Spain seizes four tonnes of cocaine off Canaries

Spanish authorities seized four tonnes of cocaine from a fishing boat off the Canary Islands and arrested its 15 crew, officials said Friday, the latest such operation in the region.

The Panamanian-flagged ship was intercepted on Tuesday some 500 nautical miles west of the Atlantic archipelago off northwest Africa, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Spanish police found around 100 bales of cocaine containing around 40 kilos of the drug each, for a total of around four tonnes, it added. All 15 people on board were arrested.

The authorities were acting on a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Administration that a criminal organisation was preparing to transfer "a large quantity of cocaine between two vessels on the high seas".

Spanish police were already monitoring the boat because Panamanian authorities had already removed its fishing license for undisclosed "serious offences".

Spain is a main entry point for drugs into Europe because of its close ties with former colonies in Latin America and its proximity to Morocco, a top cannabis producer.

Last month Spanish police made their largest-ever haul of cocaine, seizing 13 tonnes of the drug in the southern port of Algeciras.

Police in October seized four tonnes of cocaine from a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship off the Canaries and arrested its 10 crew, while in February another four tonnes of the drug were found on a speedboat off the archipelago.