Cocaine smuggling ring used abandoned shipwreck to refuel high-speed “narco boats” police in Spain say

The police forces in several countries dismantled an international drug trafficking network that used what the authorities have called the high -speed “Narco boats” to pass large amounts of cocaine from Brazil and Colombia to Spain Canary IslandsSpanish police said on Friday.

The ring is suspected of using 11 speed boats to collect medication in larger “mother ships” at different points in the Atlantic, then bring them to the archipelago located in the northwest of Africa, Police said in a statement. They would also have used an abandoned sinking as a supply platform for speed boats, the authorities said.

It is believed that it is “one of the largest criminal organizations dedicated to cocaine trafficking operating from South America to the Canary Islands” using this method, added the press release.

The police arrested 48 people as part of the operation, which was carried out in cooperation with the British National Crime Agency, the US Drug Enfacing Administration and the pan -European police agency Europol.

Until now, the authorities have seized nearly 3,800 kilos of cocaine which was smuggled by the gang, as well as 19 boats and around 100,000 euros ($ 114,000) which belonged to the ring. Six electronic and geolocation properties and equipment have also been seized, the authorities said.

The Colombia, France, Portugal, Poland and Cap Verde police force also participated in the operation.

Spain is a large gateway to Europe for drug trafficking networks because of its links with the old colonies in Latin America and its proximity to Morocco, a large producer of cannabis.

The bust was announced one day after the US Treasury announced that it had sanctioned six accused drug traffickers Would irregue boats and “Narco submarines” for cocaine trafficking. Four Guyanese nationals and two Colombians – Yeison Andres Sanchez Vallejo and Manuel Salazar – were accused of having allegedly tracked tons of South American cocaine in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.