Spanish and Portuguese agents seized 23 kilos of heroin, two marijuana plantations and five kilos of cannabis buds, more than 150 thousand euros in cash, among other belongings.
Twenty-eight people were arrested in an operation to dismantle a speedboat construction network for drug trafficking that operated in Galicia and Portugal, and 23 kilos of heroin were also seized.
In a statement released this Friday, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior (equivalent to the Ministry of Internal Administration of Portugal) He detailed that the network was dismantled in an operation that began in the early morning of October 2during which Spanish and Portuguese agents jointly carried out 19 searches in the provinces of Pontevedra and A Coruña and in unspecified Portuguese towns, arresting 14 people.
After, They arrested another 14 people who were allegedly part of the criminal organization suspected of drug trafficking and smuggling..
Agents from the Tax Agency, the Civil Guard and the National Police, as well as members of the Portuguese police, participated in the operation.
According to the Spanish news agency Efe, the investigation began at the end of 2022, when the authorities obtained evidence of a structured organization dedicated to the construction of boats and that allowed them to “introduce large quantities of narcotic substances” into the two countries.
HE The organization had several facilities to “manufacture” this type of high-speed boats.among them a warehouse in the municipality of Sanxenxo, in Pontevedra, and another in the municipality of Illa de Arousa, which is still under construction.
Furthermore, the network It had industrial warehouses in the north of Portugal. to complete the construction of the ships, which they equipped with powerful engines.
Efe adds that investigators from both countries “managed to prevent the launching of two high-speed vessels (EAV), the first of them in September 2023, when it was going to be launched in the Miño River, near Lanhelas, Caminha, and the second on February 1, 2024, this time in the town of Moguer (Huelva).”
The investigation, coordinated by courts in Spain and Portugal, revealed that the network was not only dedicated to manufacturing boats, but also managed crews and even “distributed large quantities of drugs.”
In operation, The agents seized 23 kilos of heroin, two marijuana plantations and five kilos of cannabis buds.in addition to four EAV type vessels, more than 150 thousand euros in cash, three high-powered vehicles and various computer and telephone equipment.
Source: Observadora
