Merchant vessel held off Alborán with 18 tonnes of hashish
Spanish Customs Surveillance intercepted a flag-of-convenience merchant vessel off the island of Alborán in the early hours of 19 April 2014 and found about 18 tonnes of hashish aboard. The seven Syrian crew members, caught trying to sink the vessel, were arrested and ordered to sail it to Almería.
🇪🇸 Waters off Alborán island, south-west of Almería · Spain
Spanish Customs Surveillance intercepted a merchant vessel flying a flag of convenience in the waters off Alborán island, south-west of Almería, in the early hours of Saturday 19 April 2014, and found about 18 tonnes of hashish aboard.[1]Air and sea surveillance had flagged the vessel after it loaded goods in Casablanca and matched a specific risk profile.[1]
When two Customs Surveillance patrol vessels boarded it, the crew were attempting to sink the vessel, so officers ordered them to set course for Almería, where the bales of hashish, amounting to about 18,000 kilos, were uncovered and the crew arrested.[1]The seven crew members were all Syrian nationals.[1]
The agency presented the seizure, under Operation Mar de Fondo, as the seventh large hashish interception on the eastern Mediterranean route since June 2013, bringing that route’s running total past 90 tonnes.[1]
Case data
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