Officials from Spain’s Tax Agency, in a joint operation with National Police officers, intercepted a mother ship carrying around 12 tonnes of hashish in Atlantic waters on 25 January 2018.[1] The patrol boat Gerifalte of the Tax Agency’s Customs Surveillance unit boarded the fishing vessel about 130 nautical miles south-west of Cádiz.[1]
The boarding took place in very adverse weather, with waves of up to five metres and strong north-westerly winds, after the patrol vessel had travelled 140 miles from Cádiz, the limit of its maximum operational range.[1] Air and sea surveillance had detected a fishing vessel of about eight or nine metres that was stationary and not engaged in fishing, in an area off Kenitra, Morocco, about 70 miles from the coast.[1] Officers approached and boarded it after obtaining authorisation from Morocco as the country of registration.[1]
Once on board, officers found bales of the type commonly used to transport hashish which, pending an official count, could contain around 12,000 kilos.[1] The 13 crew members, all of Moroccan nationality, were arrested, and the vessel and cargo were seized and taken to the port of Cádiz.[1] The detainees, the vessel and the drugs were handed over to the competent court.[1]
The Tax Agency said the operation, codenamed Canelas, was launched on intelligence suggesting an organisation was planning a hashish smuggling operation using a fishing vessel in that area.[1]
