Ship Arrives in Las Palmas Carrying Largest Cocaine Haul Seized at Sea

It is a vessel detained near Dahjla by the Civil Guard that came from Sierra Leone.

The Civil Guard has seized in the Atlantic a Comorian‑flagged merchant ship loaded with a massive cocaine shipment, possibly one of the largest ever confiscated in Spain. Sources close to the investigation tell EFE that the haul could total 30,000 to 40,000 kilograms.

The vessel, named Arconian, and its crew arrived late Sunday afternoon at the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, escorted by a Civil Guard patrol boat.

The operation is being carried out under orders from the National Court and with a sealed investigation, so the Armed Institute has declined to reveal further details at this time.

Nevertheless, consulted sources indicate that the quantity of drugs intercepted may exceed the 10‑ton (9,994 kg) seizure made in January aboard the cargo ship United S, which was boarded by the National Police 545 km west of El Hierro. That earlier haul, off‑loaded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, was then the largest ever captured at sea in Europe.

The ship seized in this latest operation against international drug trafficking had departed Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 22 April and was allegedly bound for the port of Benghazi (Libya), according to its declared route.