2.6 tonnes of cocaine seized in Atlantic, four arrests including Gibraltar resident

A Gibraltar resident was among four arrested as part of an international operation led by Italy that resulted in 2.6 tonnes of cocaine being seized in the Atlantic Ocean, according to Italy’s borders and customs police.

The drugs were found on board an “ultra-fast, ocean-going rigid inflatable” speedboat intercepted off Portugal.

The speedboat was acting as a “sea taxi”, collecting illicit cargoes offshore from “mother ships” arriving from South America, before transporting them into the European market.

Four people on board the vessel were arrested, including a “citizen of Gibraltar”, two Spaniards and an Albanian national, the latter resident in Italy, according to a statement issued Monday by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza.

The vessel was intercepted by Portugal’s maritime police, supported by surveillance centres in Lisbon and Italy, and Spanish authorities.

It had previously been kept under constant surveillance using aircraft operated by the Guardia di Finanza from the Iberian peninsula as part of operations to monitor the EU’s external borders.

“The drug consignment would have generated enormous illicit profits,” the statement said.

“The wholesale value of the seized cargo is estimated at around €78 million.”

“Once it had reached its destination and been diluted or bulked out for retail distribution, the drugs would have generated an overall turnover of approximately €500 million.”