A sailboat coming from Ibiza and carrying 1.100 kilos of cocaine has been seized in Caribbean waters by officials of the Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and agents of the National Police with the collaboration of the French Customs. Its four crew members, three of them Ibicencan and one Colombian, have been arrested.
The operation, as reported in a press release by the Tax Agency and the National Police, began with at the end of 2023when it was discovered that the 15-meter sloop sailing vessel ‘Maria del Mar’ had departed from Ibiza and was on its way to pick up cocaine on a transatlantic crossing that began in December of that year.
Investigators found that the previous year, in the month of September 2022, the vessel had been acquired by a person resident and born in Ibiza with “multiple police records and criminal links with the trafficking of narcotics“.
At that time, the boat was marked as a “tracking target” by the Balearic Maritime Intelligence Office of Customs Surveillance, which “performs an analysis of all vessels suspected of smuggling in Balearic waters”, the same sources point out. The vessel and its new owner were also under investigation by the Central Narcotics Brigade of the National Police.
Subsequently, in early 2024 information was received from the Udyco of the National Police of the city of Vigo, which had focused its attention on the trip that the vessel had begun in mid-December, originating in Ibiza, and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on december 19, 2023.
Already the february 2, 2024, information was received that positioned the ship on the island of St. Vincent (Cape Verde)this indicated that the vessel might be making a transatlantic voyage to South America. These facts were confirmed two days later, with the confirmation that the sailing vessel was sailing south of the island of Santo Antão (Cape Verde)which indicated to investigators that he might be heading to South America to pick up cocaine.
International collaboration protocols were then activated and a request was made through the MAOC-N (Maritime Analysis and Operations Center for Drug Trafficking) for the location, tracking and, with the prior authorization of the investigators, boarding of the sailboat ‘María del Mar’.
Boarding, fire of the ship and arrests
The past february 17 the signals enabled the vessel to be located to the north of the French Guianaa. This new position indicated to investigators that the vessel might be headed to receive a transshipment of cocaine, a common modus operandi in the area where it was located, which was later confirmed.
After transmitting the vessel’s positions by international collaborative procedures, the february 23 the French authorities located the vessel, which had begun its return voyage, north of Surinameand asked the Spanish researchers for authorization to board the ship.
Monday february 26the French authorities reported that, during the early morning hours, the Jersey-flagged vessel ‘Maria del Mar’ was boarded by a French Customs patrol boat. At the time of the boarding the crew members set fire to the vessel to avoid capture and destroy the narcotic substances.
The fire managed to be controlled by French Customs officials, who subsequently located multiple bales in the forward warehouse, with an approximate amount of 1.1 tons, the contents of which were tested positive for cocaine. This is the largest quantity of cocaine ever seized from a ship leaving Ibiza to load this type of cargo drug
Immediately, the arrest of the crew of the sailboat, composed of three Spaniards living in Ibiza (the owner of the boat, his partner and a third person) and a Colombian individual who is alleged to be the guarantor of the cocaine.
The vessel was intercepted and transferred to Martiniquewhere all the actions were carried out in relation to the detainees, the electronic devices they were carrying and the narcotic substances.
The investigation has been carried out by agents of the Operational Unit of Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency in Palma, the Udyco of Vigo and the Central Narcotics Brigade of the National Police.
Until recently, the investigation of the activities of the arrested persons has been continued and future arrests are not ruled out.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.