A Speedboat Carrying 3.7 Tonnes of Cocaine Is Stopped 80 Nautical Miles South of Faro, and One Suspect Dies After a Collision at Sea

The Polícia Judiciária (PJ) has seized 3,700 kilos of cocaine from a high-speed boat stopped about 80 nautical miles south of Faro, in an international operation that left one suspect dead. Two other men, both foreign nationals, were arrested and are due before a judge for their first questioning at the Campus de Justiça in Lisbon.

The PJ announced the operation, codenamed "Mare Nostrum", on Monday. It said the investigation had led to the dismantling of a criminal group dedicated to bringing large quantities of drugs into Europe on high-speed boats.

A chase and a collision at sea

The boat was detected and boarded on Sunday after a pursuit, once its crew had ignored an order to stop, according to the PJ's statement. Three people were on board, and the police also seized equipment used for navigation and for transporting the cocaine.

At a press conference at PJ headquarters in Lisbon, the director of the PJ's Lisbon directorate, João Oliveira, said the authorities' boat and the boat carrying the drugs collided after the suspects disobeyed orders. "One of the suspects, unfortunately, died as a result of serious injuries he suffered at the moment of the boarding," he said. No one else was hurt, he added, although three military personnel fell into the sea during the operation.

The cocaine came from Latin America and "very probably" had Portugal as its destination, Oliveira said. The investigation behind the seizure began about six months ago.

Who was involved

The operation was led by the PJ's national drug trafficking unit, the Unidade Nacional de Combate ao Tráfico de Estupefacientes, with the Portuguese Navy, the Maritime Police and Italy's Guardia di Finanza. It ran within the framework of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Narcotics (MAOC-N), the Lisbon-based European centre that coordinates action against drug shipments by sea and air, with help from the Portuguese Air Force and Spain's Guardia Civil. Representatives of the Guardia di Finanza and the Navy attended Monday's press conference.

A busy autumn on the southern coast

The seizure is one of several on Portugal's southern and western coasts in a matter of days. The GNR reported seizing four tonnes of cocaine in the Alentejo on 8 October, and 464 kilos of hashish were seized between Cabo Espichel and Sines on 9 October, according to reports carried by Observador. Earlier this month, the GNR described five operations in four days in the Algarve that traced how drug boats are refuelled and supplied from the shore.

Sunday's chase shows the risks these interceptions carry for the crews on both sides: one man dead and three of the boarding party in the water, 80 nautical miles from shore.

The PJ has not identified the two detained men beyond their foreign nationality, nor said where the dead suspect was from. The judge at their first hearing will decide what pre-trial measures, such as remand in custody, apply while the investigation continues.