Spanish Police Seize Record 30,000–45,000kg Cocaine Haul from Atlantic Freighter

Spanish police seized what may be a national record cocaine haul from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters and found between 30,000 to 45,000kg (33 to 50 tonnes) of the drug, according to the body's main union, the AUGC. The union described the operation as a "historic blow to drug trafficking".

The vessel was stopped off Spain's Canary Islands on Friday. Authorities arrested about 20 people, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. The freighter had come from Sierra Leone and was bound for Libya.

The Civil Guard declined to provide details of the investigation for legal reasons.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid that the seizure ranked "one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally".

The Civil Guard posted a photo on X showing the drugs packed into the vessel's hold. "Today history is being written in the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard," it said. "Intercepted in international waters the largest known seizure: between 30,000 and 45,000 kg of cocaine on board a freighter."

AFP reported that although the boat was headed to Libya, patterns from past operations indicate it was likely set to transfer the drugs to smaller vessels for distribution in Europe.