Spain’s Customs Surveillance service closed Operation Sophie in Murcia with 4,320 kilos of hashish seized, five people arrested and a fishing vessel taken.[1] The agency put the haul’s value on the illicit market at 6,177,000 euros.[1]
The operation began on 9 December 2010, when air and sea patrols spotted the 12-metre fishing vessel S Siroco sailing in a way deemed suspicious for fishing.[1] The Cartagena-based patrol boat Abanto intercepted it at 4.30 pm, 24 miles south of Cartagena.[1] On boarding, officers found 141 burlap bales, commonly used to transport hashish, in the hold and other parts of the boat.[1]
Officers seized the vessel and arrested the five crew members, including the skipper, taking them to Cartagena that afternoon.[1] Some of those arrested had previously been investigated by Customs Surveillance for maritime drug trafficking.[1] The operation was closed a few days before the 13 June 2011 announcement, once the inquiries aimed at dismantling the criminal organisation were complete.[1] The drugs, the detainees and the vessel were handed over to the duty Investigating Magistrate’s Court in Cartagena.[1]
