At 02:15 on 21 November 2021 the Tax Agency patrol vessel Abanto boarded the sailing yacht Floriana about 70 miles south-east of Cartagena, confirming she carried more than 100 bales of hashish.[1] The final count was 4,760 kilograms, and the two crew members, both Bulgarian nationals working for an organisation that moves drugs to Europe by sea, were arrested.[1][2] Customs aircraft had watched two rigid-hulled inflatable boats approach the yacht to load the consignment late on 20 November.[1][2]

A renamed vessel

The yacht flew the Polish flag as Floriana, but investigators found she had sailed in 2020 as the Dutch-flagged Salacia and had waited off Cabrera for the vessel Phase One, which was boarded in March 2020 with more than four tonnes of hashish.[1] After that escape the vessel changed name and flag and registered in Poland, a common practice to throw investigators off the trail.[1] She was picked up again entering Balearic waters by the Palma surveillance units and kept under watch until the boarding.[1]