In the operation that took place 800 kms from Portugal, the Judicial Police have detained the 17 crew. Drug was hidden in a tank
The action was in the style of a Hollywood movie. At the request of the Judicial Police, a Navy Corvette went to the south of Morocco, in the Atlantic Ocean, between Casablanca and Agadir, 800 kms from Portugal, carrying a group of special operatives.
The Marines boarded a speedboat, approached the freighter, climbing on board. With the Marines on board, the 17 crew members – Indians and Pakistanis – did not offer any resistance, which allowed the anti-narcotics team of the Judicial Police to enter the freighter and make the arrests. None of the alleged traffickers were armed.
The intervention took place the night of Thursday to Friday (26th/27th October 2017) and the ship is now in the custody of the PJ. The only cargo on board the 115-meter freighter with the Comoros flag, was 1130 kg of cocaine with the packages bearing the Hugo Boss logo. The drug was hidden in the underside of the ship, in an empty ballast tank (they usually receive ballast water to maintain vessel stability).
“This was also the result of an exchange of information within the framework of the MAOC-N – Maritime Analysis and Operations Center-Narcotics, which is based in Lisbon,” said DN Joaquim Pereira, director of the Unit for Combating Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs (UNCTE) of the PJ, who yesterday explained to the press the operation, flanked by commanders Carvalho Pinto, director of the naval operations center of the Navy and Bernardo da Costa, Air Force spokesman FA). The monitoring of the ship was undertaken by the Air Force.
The drugs would be worth around 50 million euros (bills made at 45 euros a gram of cocaine) but after treating the cocaine would be worth three times more than that, said those responsible.