Raids across Canary Islands in major cocaine gang bust

A large cocaine smuggling cognition that utilized a web of speedboats to transport drugs from South America to the Canary Islands has been taken down, constabulary person said.

Almost 4 tonnes of cocaine trafficked from Brazil and Colombia were seized and 48 suspects arrested successful raids crossed Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

Spain's Policia Nacional said the pack utilized 11 alleged narco boats to smuggle the drugs crossed the Atlantic successful a analyzable cognition that progressive utilizing an abandoned wreck astatine oversea arsenic a refuelling platform.

Police forces from Europe, including the UK, arsenic good arsenic South America and the US were progressive successful readying the raids, dubbed Operation Black Shadow.

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed that a British nationalist was among those arrested.

Europol said the pack utilized speedboats "repeatedly, departing from strategical points successful the Atlantic Ocean to a parent vessel transporting the cocaine".

Investigators revealed the pack utilized "a analyzable encrypted communications strategy to evade instrumentality enforcement, including the usage of outer terminals, hard-to-trace phones and a coded language".

Police said the raids were months successful the readying and saw 29 properties searched, 69 vehicles seized - including boats and pitchy skis - and currency and firearms recovered.

Details of the raids radiance a airy connected the complexity of the networks planetary cause smuggling gangs usage to get narcotics into Europe, a large marketplace for South American-based cartels.

Spanish constabulary said the cognition had "dismantled 1 of the largest transgression organisations dedicated to cocaine trafficking".

The unit besides said it had identified a section web successful the Canary Islands liable for distributing the cocaine erstwhile it had arrived from South America.

Footage of the raids published by Spanish constabulary showed equipped and masked officers raiding respective houses, arresting suspects and carrying retired searches.

It is not the archetypal clip constabulary person intercepted a ample magnitude of cocaine bound for the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory and fashionable tourer destination lying astir 100km (62 miles) disconnected the westbound African coast.

Police announced successful December that they had intercepted a Venezuelan sportfishing vessel 1,000 miles retired astatine sea.

It was discovered the vas - which was truthful dilapidated it sank portion being towed to enactment - was carrying 3.3 tonnes of cocaine.

Commenting connected the latest raid, an NCA spokesperson said: "Alongside our planetary partners, we are relentless successful our efforts to tackle cause trafficking crossed borders, ensuring it's seized earlier it reaches the UK transgression proviso chain."