Algeciras (Spain), 15 Feb. A stowaway who boarded a freighter in Colombia was arrested in Spain with 109 kilos of cocaine, the Spanish Interior Ministry reported on Wednesday.
The arrest took place in the Spanish city of Algeciras, a major cargo port, as part of a joint operation between Spain’s Civil Guard, police and customs surveillance, according to a statement from the ministry.
The investigation determined that he had accessed the ship as it left Colombia, climbing the moorings and entering packages of cocaine with the help of several people whose identities are under investigation, according to this source.
The stowaway is accused of carrying four bullets with 99 packets of cocaine, weighing 109 kilos, in the anchor compartment of a ship going from Colombia to Turkey.
The investigations began when, through international cooperation mechanisms, the agents received information from the Greek authorities about the presence of a person on board a merchant ship, inside a cabin difficult to access, in the anchorage area, with indications of drug transport.
The trader had set a speed reduction in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, in which Algeciras is located, for the supply of fuel, at which time the Spanish authorities verified the veracity of this information.
After the ship was intercepted and moored, a man was located in the anchor compartment and the cocaine packets next to him, for which he was arrested as an alleged perpetrator of a crime against public health.
Officers detected tracking devices attached to the bullets, only to be thrown overboard and picked up in Spanish waters by other members of a criminal organization, the statement said. ECE
rrm/fs/mcm/lar/cg