Spanish police bust ship carrying over 9,900 pounds of cocaine to Europe

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spanish police said on Friday that they busted a cargo ship carrying 4,500 kilograms (9,921 pounds) of cocaine from South America to Europe.

The ship, named Blume and sailing under the Togo flag, was apprehended off the coast of the Canary Islands.

All of its 15 crew members were detained and brought to Tenerife. Thirteen of them were Pakistani and two were Albanian.

Spanish authorities became suspicious of the 100-meter (109-yard) cargo ship because its crew only declared that it was carrying 200 kg (440 Ibs) of coffee, which is “well below the vessel’s cargo capacity,” police said.

That triggered police to intercept the ship. Authorities boarded the vessel to inspect it while it was still at sea, a mission that was “very complicated” due to rough seas and the size of the ship, police said.

Once on board, police noticed packages that are notoriously used to carry cocaine. After opening the packages, police confirmed they had intercepted a massive haul of narcotics.

According to Vessel Finder, a vessel tracking website, the ship departed from the Santos port in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo in December. It was expected to arrive in Riga, Latvia in mid-February.

In 2022, the vessel visited just two countries, according to Vessel Finder: Brazil and Türkiye.