DrugsNews

Ship loaded with 8,400 kilograms of hashish intercepted in West African waters

Spanish Civil Guard agents in a joint operation with the National Police, and Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and CITCO, and in collaboration with the Senegalese Navy, in a maritime intelligence operation developed in coordination with the Center for Analysis and Maritime Operations Regarding Drug Trafficking (MAOC) and the French Customs Service, they have proceeded to seize 8,400 kilos of hashish in waters near Senegal.

The operation began when the Spanish Security Forces and Bodies, within the framework of the coordination that through the CITCO (Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime) maintains with the international maritime security organizations, were alerted by the MAOC -N (Center for Maritime Operations Analysis on Drug Trafficking) on ​​a Togolese-flagged cargo ship suspected of transporting a large quantity of hashish.

When this vessel was found in the vicinity of the Senegalese coast, the agents activated international cooperation with the authorities of the African country, in order to be able to intercept the suspicious vessel. For this reason, a patrol boat and a corvette from the Senegal Navy, with the collaboration of the Patrol Boat Río Ara of the Civil Guard, and with real-time technical support from CECORVIGMAR, proceeded to board and inspect the ship to some 65 nautical miles west of Dakar, finding 8,400 kilograms of hashish on board, for which the seven crew members were arrested.

The actions have been carried out by boats and air resources of the Senegalese Navy, supported by the Río Ara patrol boat of the Civil Guard, which is part of the contingent of agents and maritime resources that the body has deployed in Senegal to support its authorities in various problems that affect that area, such as irregular immigration.

The maritime trafficking of hashish through the southwestern coasts of Africa involves the search for new routes for the transport of this drug. The Senegalese authorities, within the framework of their jurisdiction, will instruct the corresponding procedures and place the detainees and the seized drugs at the disposal of their judicial authorities for the appropriate legal actions.