The Spanish Civil Guard and the Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie thwart a shipment of almost 4,800 kilos of hashish in the Strait of Gibraltar

The Spanish Civil Guard, in collaboration with the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie, has seized 121 bales of hashish weighing approximately 4,777 kilos, after chasing a semi-rigid “go fast” type boat that was sailing at high speed through the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar. 

The operation began when a suspicious vessel was detected navigating in the vicinity of the Strait. After analyzing its course, speed, and trajectory, and given the evolution of the pursuit, the resources of the Civil Guard’s Maritime Service were immediately activated, along with support from the Civil Guard’s Air Service.

The semi-rigid boat, of the type usually used by drug trafficking organizations, was sailing loaded with bales of hashish and was making evasive maneuvers to hinder police tracking.

During the first phase of the pursuit, the Civil Guard’s Maritime Service patrol boat maintained direct tracking of the drug-laden vessel, exerting constant pressure on its crew. In response, the occupants of the semi-rigid boat began jettisoning part of the hashish cargo into the sea to lighten the vessel, increase speed, and hinder the seizure of the drugs.

Meanwhile, thanks to the Civil Guard’s Air Service, the bales that were being thrown into the sea by the crew of the semi-rigid boat during the escape were located.

Simultaneously, the Civil Guard’s land units remained activated, covering possible landing points on the coast in case the vessel attempted to land to facilitate the escape of its crew.

Thanks to this operation, 32 bales of hashish, weighing approximately 1,200 kilos, were recovered from the sea.

Faced with the pressure exerted by the Civil Guard operation and the course the semi-rigid boat was maintaining, its occupants continued their escape towards waters near Morocco. At that moment, the established international cooperation channels with the Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie were immediately activated. Their maritime and Royal Navy units were quickly deployed to intercept the semi-rigid boat.

This integrated action made it possible to close off possible escape routes and prevent the crew from securing the cargo and completing the operation with the drug seizure.

The actions of the Moroccan maritime patrols forced the crew of the drug vessel to abandon the rest of the cargo they were carrying, definitively thwarting the transport of the drugs.

As a result of this operation, Moroccan maritime authorities recovered 89 bales of hashish, weighing approximately 3,577 kilos.

This operation is part of the permanent deployments that the Civil Guard maintains in the Campo de Gibraltar to combat drug trafficking, as well as within the mechanisms of international collaboration with police forces of neighboring countries, essential to confront criminal organizations that operate on both sides of the Strait.