Portugal: Spanish suspect dies during seizure of 3.7 tonnes of cocaine

Some 3.7 tonnes of cocaine were seized aboard a speedboat in the south of Portugal, during an intervention where one of the three Spanish suspects died after the intervention, the judicial police (PJ) announced on Monday. The operation led to the arrest of another Spaniard and a Briton, the same source said. The 37-year-old victim succumbed to his injuries “sustained during the intervention”, after “the collision between two boats”, indicated Joao Oliveira, director of the judicial police, during a press conference.

After the accident, the victim was evacuated to a hospital in Andalusia, southern Spain, but did not survive his injuries, said navy spokesperson Ricardo Sa Granja. The speedboat was intercepted approximately 80 nautical miles from Faro (southern Portugal), after a pursuit, its occupants having refused to obey the orders of the authorities. The other suspects were remanded in custody and were due to be presented to a judge on Tuesday.

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“Portugal is particularly exposed”

The operation, which mobilized the Portuguese, Italian and Spanish authorities, made it possible to dismantle a criminal group suspected of transporting “significant quantities” of drugs from Latin America to the European continent, “by means of fast boats”, indicated the PJ. This seizure comes as Portuguese authorities note an increasing use of “narcolanchas”, the fast boats used by drug traffickers, who use them to transport large shipments of drugs.

“Due to its geographical position in the far west of Europe, Portugal is particularly exposed and represents an attractive target for these criminal networks,” admitted Joao Oliveira. However, this is not a phenomenon specific to Portugal. We also observe it in other European countries and elsewhere,” he added.

Visiting Lisbon last week, the head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio praised Portugal “for its growing and successful efforts in the fight against narco-terrorism”, indicating that the Iberian country had seized “nearly 200 tonnes of cocaine” over the last two years.