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DRUGS SEIZED FROM BRITISH BOAT UNLOADING IN SANTA POLA
Officers from the Guardia Civil, in a joint operation with the National Police, have seized almost 5,000 kilograms of hashish arranged in 126 bales just as they were being unloaded in the Alicante port of Santa Pola.
Four people have been arrested for their alleged involvement, three of whom were caught red-handed.
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The investigation began thanks to the constant exchange of information in the fight against drug trafficking, the result of which was a tip about the possible arrival on the Alicante coast of a boat with a large amount of hashish from the African continent.
The information was confirmed when the agents sighted a "GO FAST" type vessel with four engines sailing at a speed of 52 knots and which was apparently loaded with bales. This led to joint surveillance between the Guardia Civil and the National Police in the area of the Santa Pola marina in order to cover all accesses to detect possible drug unloading movements.
While the agents were in the area, they saw a van with its rear doors open reversing toward a recreational boat, where people were unloading. When the agents approached, all of them tried to flee, three of them being arrested at the scene. One of the detainees revealed the existence of a second van prepared to load the rest of the drug, which the agents then seized.
A total of 74 bales of hashish of about 38 kilograms each were found in the back of the van they used to unload the drugs. In that same vehicle, the agents also found a ban- dolier with documentation of a fourth person who was identified as one of those who fled. The following day, this fourth individual appeared at the Guardia Civil headquarters in a town in Castellón, and the agents arrested him for an alleged crime against public health. The boat was a British-flagged yacht-type recreational vessel that remained in custody until the corresponding entry and search authorisation was granted.
The agents found inside a total of 52 bundles (two on the deck, three on the bottom and 47 in the cabins), four high-end mobile phones, a satellite phone, two sets of keys and documentation.
