Police find 1.5 tonnes of cannabis resin inside RHIB

Police have discovered 1.5 tonnes of cannabis resin inside a hidden compartment in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat seized after a high-speed chase at sea earlier this week.

The drugs were hidden in the hull of the vessel and were not discovered when the boat was first seized.

Three men arrested on the boat had appeared in court earlier this week and were fined for importing the prohibited RHIB.

But after the Royal Gibraltar Police received further intelligence about the vessel, closer inspection discovered a concealed compartment on the RHIB.

Juan Jose Pinero Espinosa, 24, from Algeciras, Francisco Gil Dominguez, 33, from Jerez, and Juan Manuel Ordonez Suarez, 36, from Algeciras, we arrested again and charged with importation, possession and possession with intent to supply of a controlled Class B drug.

They will be appear before the Magistrates Court this morning.

An RGP spokesman said the drugs had been discovered in a double hull and described this as “a new sophisticated method of concealment for these type of vessels which we had never seen before.”

The RGP are continuing their investigation.