Spanish Intercept Ship “Completely Stuffed” with Record Cocaine Load
Details are starting to come out on what will likely be Spain’s largest ever drug seizure, possibly three to four times the prior record. Guardia Civil intercepted a general cargo ship last week, which reports said was “completely stuffed,” and when the final tally is done, the expectation is that the load was between 30 and 45 tonnes.
Guardia Civil has declined to release details at this stage, saying the investigation is ongoing and that it is working under a court order. Spain’s Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, however, told reporters in Madrid the seizure would be one of the largest not only nationally but internationally.
The ship named Arconian (4,347 dwt) was observed making its way north along the African coast. It departed Freetown, Sierra Leone, on April 22. The ship, which is 91 meters (299 feet) in length, is registered in Comoros and listed as owned by a company in Sierra Leone. It was reporting a destination of Benghazi, Libya, but according to the reports, the authorities believe that may have been false information.
Authorities speaking to the French news agency AFP said it was likely the ship was going to be met by multiple small boats to offload portions of the drugs. Due to the amount onboard, they believe many small boats and multiple ports would have been involved in the operation. The report points out that the authorities said offloading that amount of cargo in any one port was likely to raise suspicion. Also, Libya would have been a transshipment stop, as the final destination was surely Europe.
Reports said the ship was stuffed with the bales of cocaine (AUGC Guardia Civil)
The vessel was intercepted on May 1 off the coast of Western Sahara. The ship was directed to the naval base at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where it arrived Sunday evening.
There were 23 crewmembers aboard who have all been placed in detention. The media reports are that they were from the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Angola.
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The police were beginning a comprehensive search of the vessel on Monday and starting to offload the bales of cocaine. Pictures are also showing a cache of weapons found on the ship. The case remains under a sealed court order from Spain’s Audiencia Nacional.
Spanish authorities had reported a seizure of 13 tonnes of cocaine found in containers at the Port of Algeciras in October 2024. This year, in January, they also reported a seizure at sea of 10 tonnes, which was said to have been the largest seizure from a ship at sea.
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