A livestock carrier en route from Cartagena in Columbia to the Lebanese capital of Beirut was diverted to a Spanish port for inspection after it was suspected of carrying contraband.
The Orion V was southwest of the Canary Islands when police and customs surveillance personnel conducted a forced boarding exercise at sea.
According to reports at least 28 crew members were arrested after it was found that the ageing vessel, apart from carrying 1 750 head of cattle, was also loaded with 4.5 tonnes of cocaine.
The cocaine was found hidden in the animals’ feed silos.
It’s not the first time that a high-seas search-and-seizure operation has been conducted in the vicinity of the Canary Islands, a known spot for contraband smuggled from South America.
In recent times, the tax agency control ship, Fulmar, has made several busts of attempted drug smuggling into Europe,
In December, it intercepted a yacht, also off the Canary Islands coastline, seizing 2.5 tonnes of cocaine.
More recently, another vessel, the Blume, was also force-boarded by customs security officials from Spain who seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine.
Both the Orion V and Blume sail under the flag of Togo.
Togolese authorities, along with America’s Drug Enforcement Agency, assisted in the bust.
