Europol says Canary Islands are key in cocaine trafficking: “It has reached unprecedented levels”
It cites the recent “Black Shadow” operation and warns about the use of mother ships off the African coast, autonomous vessels and drones.
Europol warned in a recent report that the Canary Islands and the Guadalquivir River are pivotal nodes for large‑scale cocaine trafficking into Europe from Latin America, as criminal organisations diversify their methods and routes. To do so they employ mother ships off the African coast, semi‑submersibles and “narcolanchas”, as well as sophisticated encrypted systems and weapons to protect the cargoes.
“Cocaine trafficking to Europe has reached unprecedented levels, driven by high production in Latin America and growing demand in the European Union,” Europol said in its report Diversification of Maritime Cocaine Trafficking, cited by Europa Press.
Europol highlighted the recent “Black Shadow” operation carried out by the National Police against a network operating in the Atlantic, which resulted in 105 arrests and is considered the “largest attack on the distribution and money‑laundering centre of the Gibraltar area”.
The agency’s report calls for increased international cooperation, noting that criminal groups are “fragmenting and adopting complex, covert trafficking methods”.
Infrastructure at Sea
Europol has warned that criminal networks are trying to evade police pressure by moving away from commercial ports and using ever‑smaller vessels, high‑sea trans‑shipments and “ingenious” concealment techniques.
Maritime transfers typically involve a mother ship from Latin America handing over cocaine to a subsidiary vessel off the coast of West Africa. “They are exploiting advanced technologies, including encrypted communications, autonomous vessels and drones to avoid detection,” the agency noted.
The cocaine is off‑loaded in West Africa for onward shipment to continental Europe or routed through the Canary Islands. “When it reaches the Andalusian coast, they use the Guadalquivir River to transport the cocaine inland for further distribution,” officials indicated.
In this context, criminals rely on equipped inflatable boats capable of remaining at sea—up to 100 nautical miles—for extended periods.
“The use of this route,” referring to the Guadalquivir, “attracts new criminal actors to the area and, with them, the capacity and willingness to use violence to protect large cocaine shipments.” Europol also warns that the use of weapons is proliferating in such smuggling loads.
High‑Speed Narco Boats
The European agency focuses on the “Black Shadow” operation because it marks a shift in modus operandi: criminal groups increasingly depend on advanced maritime infrastructure to “smuggle” South American cocaine into Spain and then distribute it across Europe.
“Suspects were using high‑speed vessels capable of exceeding 70 km/h and complex encrypted communication systems to evade law‑enforcement,” the report continued, emphasizing the use of drones and autonomous boats that require no crew.
The report also stresses the need to improve maritime surveillance, financial investigations and forensic expertise, highlighting Europol’s ability to provide on‑the‑ground support to police forces, as demonstrated during the “Black Shadow” operation led by the National Police’s Udyco unit.
The police operation was carried out with the cooperation of Spain’s CNI, the U.S. DEA, Morocco’s DGSN, the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Drug Trafficking (MAOC‑N), and authorities from Portugal, France, Colombia and Cape Verde. The arrests were ordered by Central Instruction Court 3 and the Special Anti‑Drug Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court.