The Judiciary Police of Portugal, in collaboration with the Portuguese Navy and Air Force has in recent days triggered an operation to combat illicit traffic in narcotic drugs by sea, which resulted in the interception , in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, of a container carrier that was being used to transport high amounts of cocaine.
In this operation, the Judicial Police of Portugal announced that it has ceased 1130 kg of cocaine off a vessel and detained its 17 crewmembers, which are considered part of a transnational criminal organization established in several countries from different continents, the Portuguese Police stated.
According to the police, the cocaine seized on board the vessel was at this stage being transported from Latin America to the European continent and then being distributed to different countries.
The detainees, aged between 24 and 63 years, were present at the first judicial interrogation for the application of coercive measures.
The Judicial Police of Portugal is carrying out investigation in cooperation with France and the United Kingdom
After an exchange of information within the framework of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center – Narcotics (MAOC-N), based in Lisbon, the National Unit to Combat Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs of the Judiciary Police in Portugal launched the operation.
Earlier this week, the New Zealand Police announced the arrest of four people, after an estimated 46 kilograms of cocaine was seized from an address in Tauranga, New Zealand.
