Agents of the Guardia Civil, the National Police, and the Tax Agency have intercepted and boarded a fishing vessel 30 miles east of Fuerteventura, in international waters sailing under the Mongolian flag yesterday afternoon, within the framework of operation 'Agua Mojada' and have seized 15 tons of hashish that was on board.
The operation is the result of an intelligence investigation that has resulted in the boarding of the vessel when it was in Atlantic waters, east of the Canary Islands, as reported by the Tax Agency in an official press release.
The boarding of the ship, named 'Odyssey 227', was carried out by the Customs Surveillance patrol boat 'Sacre' of the Tax Agency, based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the four crew members of the boat have been arrested.
It has been reported that the Odyssey 227, which was the subject of an investigation carried out by the Office of Maritime Investigation of Customs Surveillance in Galicia, the National Police and Guardia Civil, was approached after requesting permission from the consular authorities of Mongolia in accordance with the United Nations Vienna Convention against illicit drug trafficking, which was done without encountering any resistance from the crew of the boat.
However, bad sea conditions and the very nature of the operation created a situation of "extreme difficulty" when, during the assault, the head of the Dam Crew of the patrol boat 'Sacre' fell into the water, but was rescued "immediately" by his companions and continued with the mission.
Regarding the four detained crew members, the captain is of Italian nationality, while the chief engineer and the sailors are of Senegalese nationality. All of them, along with the fishing boat and the seized drugs, have been escorted to the port of Las Palmas, where they arrived at around 5pm yesterday afternoon.
The investigation is ongoing coordinated by the CITCO (Intelligence Centre against Terrorism and Organized Crime), in co-operation with the Maritime Intelligence Office for Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency in the Canary Islands and the VA office in Galicia.
