Navy and Judicial Police Intercept 2.6 Tonnes of Cocaine on a Speedboat 50 Miles Off Cabo Espichel
Four foreign nationals were detained after the Polícia Judiciária, the Navy and the Air Force boarded a high-speed launch carrying roughly 2,627 kilos of cocaine off the coast south of Lisbon.
Portuguese authorities have seized about 2.6 tonnes of cocaine from a high-speed launch intercepted in the Atlantic south of Lisbon, in one of the largest maritime drug operations of the year.
The Polícia Judiciária (Judicial Police), acting through its Unidade Nacional de Combate ao Tráfico de Estupefacientes (National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking), coordinated the operation alongside the Marinha (Portuguese Navy) and the Força Aérea (Air Force). Officials said roughly 2,627 kilograms of cocaine were recovered after the vessel was boarded around 50 nautical miles south-west of Cabo Espichel, the headland that marks the southern edge of the Lisbon peninsula near Sesimbra.
Four detained at sea
Four foreign nationals — two Spanish citizens, one British and one Albanian, aged between 35 and 42 — were arrested aboard the speedboat. According to the Judicial Police, one of the detainees had already been flagged by investigators for suspected involvement in maritime cocaine trafficking. Markings on the packaging pointed to a South American origin, and investigators believe the shipment was bound for the wider European market.
The interception was carried out under the codename “Operation Buongiorno,” with the Navy and Air Force providing the surveillance and boarding capacity needed to stop and search a fast-moving craft far offshore. Authorities put the potential value of the haul at many millions of euros, a figure that can climb toward the hundreds of millions when calculated at street prices, depending on purity and where the drug is ultimately sold.
Portugal on the Atlantic cocaine route
The seizure underlines Portugal's position on one of the busiest cocaine corridors into Europe. The country's long Atlantic coastline and its location at the continent's south-western tip make its waters a natural transit point for consignments crossing from South America, whether destined for Iberian ports or trans-shipped onward to markets further north. Interdictions of this scale typically involve mother ships transferring their cargo to smaller, faster boats for the final approach — the pattern investigators say fits this case.
European law-enforcement agencies have repeatedly warned that record volumes of cocaine are reaching the continent, with seizures at Iberian and northern European ports climbing year after year. Portugal's Judicial Police has made a series of large offshore interceptions in recent years, often in cooperation with the Navy and with international partners tracking vessels across the Atlantic.
The four suspects were being brought ashore to be presented to a judge, who will decide on pre-trial measures. The Judicial Police said the investigation was continuing and did not rule out further arrests as it works to trace the network behind the shipment.
Image: a Portuguese Navy frigate and boarding team at sea (illustrative). U.S. Navy photo, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).
