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Spain arrests eight after civil guards die in drug chase

Spain's Guardia Civil on Saturday announced eight arrests after a drug traffickers' boat hit a patrol vessel and killed two officers during a chase.

Spain arrests eight after civil guards die in drug chase
Spanish Guardia Civil stand as boat crew members tie an alleged narco-submarine before towing it in Galicia. Photo: Miguel RIOPA/AFP.

The civil guard arrested three of the boat’s passengers following Friday’s incident in the southern port of Barbate near Cádiz that also saw two officers injured.

Two others who travelled by vehicle to pick up the passengers were also detained, the civil guard said.

READ ALSO: Two Spanish Guardia Civil killed in drug raid chase: police

Several hours later, the force announced “three other passengers who had fled the boat” were detained.

The AUGC, an association representing the paramilitary police, and Spanish media shared a video showing a night-time chase in the port involving several vessels.

One of the two injured officers remains in hospital but is out of danger, the civil guard added.

Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska visited the scene of the incident and called the event an “assassination” and promised “zero impunity” in efforts to stop drug trafficking.

The government of the nearby British enclave of Gibraltar also expressed its condolences for the officer’s deaths.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he “deeply regrets” the deaths, while the country’s royal family said on the same social network that it was “deeply saddened”.

The sea off Cádiz has seen several confrontations and major drug seizures by customs and police.

Spain is a major transit point for narcotics arriving in Europe from North Africa.

READ ALSO: Why is Spain Europe’s cocaine gateway?

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CRIME

Europol bust cocaine gang with arrests in Marbella and Canary Islands

Europol said Thursday that a crime ring smuggling drugs into Europe had collapsed as the result of an investigation involving 40 arrests and the seizure of eight tonnes of cocaine.

Europol bust cocaine gang with arrests in Marbella and Canary Islands

The Hague-based European police force said the entire cartel, whose leaders were based in Turkey and Dubai, had been dealt a major blow after a final set of arrests Wednesday.

The vast three-year-long operation involved police forces from a dozen countries and ranged from Brazil to Spain via Turkey.

According to Europol, the final phase of the operation began with the discovery in August 2023 by the Spanish Guardia Civil of 700 kilos (1,540 pounds)of cocaine in a boat off the Canary Islands, crewed by Croat and Italian citizens.

After exchanging their findings with other police forces, the investigators found links with previous seizures which led to the identification of the masterminds.

In all, 40 people were arrested in six countries, including two top Croat members of the network, who were arrested at the end of 2023 in Istanbul, police said.

The last four arrests took place on Wednesday in Spain, according to Europol.

In one operation witnessed by an AFP journalist, heavily armed members of Spain’s Guardia Civil arrested a 40-year-old man at dawn at his home near Marbella, a seaside resort popular with drug traffickers.

The smugglers shipped cocaine from South America to logistical hubs in west Africa and the Canary Islands.

The drugs were then sent on to centres in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Spain for distribution across Europe.

Many of the drug network’s assets, with a total value of several tens of millions of euros, had been seized or frozen, Europol added.

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