Nearly ten tonnes of cocaine were seized last week from a boat carrying salt in the Atlantic Ocean, Spanish police announced on Monday, “the largest” seizure of this type ever made on the high seas by their services.
The operation was carried out by special units of the Spanish police, who intercepted the cargo ship flying the Cameroonian flag linked to “a multinational organization” of drug trafficking, while “it was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean bound for Europe from Brazil,” the police said in a press release.
“Thirteen people were arrested during the operation and the drugs, distributed in 294 bags, were seized, as well as a handgun,” she continued, putting the exact quantity of drugs hidden on board in a cargo of salt at 9.994 kilograms.
It is “the largest seizure of cocaine on the high seas carried out by the national police in its entire history,” she said, referring to “a historic blow” to drug trafficking.
The American DEA, the federal agency in the United States responsible for the fight against drug trafficking, as well as the French, Portuguese and Brazilian authorities “collaborated” for the success of the operation, it is specified in the press release.
In October 2025, Spanish police announced the seizure of 6.5 tonnes of cocaine in a boat off the Canary Islands, after having discovered 13 tonnes a year earlier in the port of Algeciras, in Andalusia (south), camouflaged in a container among bananas.
This seizure was then presented by the authorities as “the largest (…) in the history of drug trafficking” in the country.
The largest seizure of cocaine on the high seas dates back to 1999, when Spanish police seized 7.5 tonnes from a boat.
Spain is considered by anti-drug specialists as one of the main gateways for cocaine into Europe, due to its links with Latin America, where the drug is produced, but also its geographical location.
