The Spanish Civil Guard has seized 1,184 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a fishing boat that had docked in the port of Santa Pola (Alicante), in an operation that has resulted in ten people being arrested and another being investigated for their alleged involvement in a crime against public health, in the form of drug trafficking.
The stash was distributed in 40 burlap sacks, hidden in ten large containers partially covered with fishing nets to hinder detection. The investigation has identified an organized structure with a division of roles between those who allegedly collected and transported the drugs by sea and those who provided support from land.
Tracking the vessel and finding the stash
The investigation began at the start of the year when agents received information about the possible use of fishing vessels to smuggle narcotics along the Alicante coast. From that point on, investigators focused their efforts on detecting movements consistent with the collection of shipments at sea and their subsequent transport to port.
On the morning of September 18, officers detected suspicious activity from a vessel off the coast of the province and identified a fishing boat sailing towards Santa Pola. Based on this information, they established a surveillance operation to monitor both its route and the activities of its crew upon arrival at the port. The officers also observed a man who was allegedly acting as a lookout near the docks, alerting them to any potential police presence.
Once the vessel docked, officers from the Provincial Maritime Service and the Citizen Security Unit of the Alicante Command (USECIC) boarded the fishing boat and located the ten containers holding the drugs. The inspection resulted in the seizure of 40 bales, with a total weight of 1,184 kilos of cocaine.
In this first phase, three people were arrested and two house searches were carried out in an apartment in Elche and a villa in Santa Pola, where a boat, a vehicle and a motorcycle were seized.
A coordinated structure between sea and land
Subsequent investigations revealed a suspected division of roles among those involved. While some were allegedly responsible for receiving the drugs at sea and transporting them to port aboard the fishing vessel, another suspect allegedly provided support from land by conducting surveillance during the vessel’s arrival.
The investigation also identified a group that operated from the port of Santa Pola itself and that acted in coordination with those who received the merchandise at sea.
This information led to a second phase of the operation, in which seven people were arrested and another was investigated.
The detainees are allegedly accused of a crime against public health in the form of drug trafficking. The judicial authority has ordered four of them to be remanded in custody.
The operation was carried out by the Organized Crime and Anti-Drug Team (EDOA) of the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of the Alicante Command, with the participation of the Provincial Maritime Service and the USECIC, and with the coordination support of the Complex Operational Center (COC) of the Alicante Command and directed by the Instruction Section of the Court of First Instance of Elche.