Three tonnes of cocaine were found on a decrepit tugboat off a Brit-favourite holiday spot.
Police and customs officers made the seizure after discovering the 22-metre-long vessel.
It was intercepted by a navy ship in international waters west of the Canary Islands.
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A special operations unit discovered around 3,000 kg of cocaine, packed in 80 bales of various sizes, hidden on board.
Spain’s Civil Guard described the condition of the tugboat, aptly named Sky White, as “deplorable,” saying its “serious safety deficiencies” posed a “grave risk” to the crew.
The crew — four Bangladeshis and a Venezuelan — were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking.
The vessel first came under suspicion in mid-2024, as reported by Need To Know.
French and Moroccan investigators found that it made several trips each year across the Atlantic, arriving at the port of Dakhla in Moroccan-administered Western Sahara loaded with cocaine bound for Europe.
Separately, Spanish investigators believed the same boat was being used to deliver drugs to smaller vessels near the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula.
The investigation received support from the UK’s National Crime Agency, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and other agencies worldwide.
The Civil Guard said: “The operation concluded with the Navy ship arriving in Tenerife to offload the drugs and hand the detainees over to the authorities.”
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