Guardia Civil intercepts vessel with up to 45,000 kilos of cocaine off Dakhla

Spanish authorities intercepted a record cocaine shipment off the Moroccan coast of Dakhla, on Friday, seizing between 30 and 45 tonnes of the drug from a vessel navigating under the Comoros flag.

According to Canal Sur, the operation, carried out by Spain’s Guardia Civil under orders from the National Court, took place in the Atlantic waters near Dakhla after the ship Arconian departed Sierra Leone on April 22 en route to Libya. Authorities recovered around 1,500 packages, each weighing between 25 and 30 kilograms.

A total of 23 suspects were arrested and transferred along with the vessel to the port of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.