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Rabat — Morocco participated in an international maritime operation that led to the interception of the tugboat “Sky White” off the Canary Islands, carrying approximately 3 tons of cocaine bound for Europe.
The Spanish Civil Guard and Customs Surveillance Service carried out the intervention and arrested 5 people aboard the Cameroon-flagged vessel.
The suspects include four from Bangladesh and one from Venezuela.
According to a Civil Guard statement, this seizure results from a joint investigation that Moroccan security services and France’s National Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigations (DNRED) started.
Since the summer of 2024, authorities have suspected this ship of large-scale international drug trafficking.
Investigations revealed that the Sky White regularly used the port of Dakhla as a strategic point to escape surveillance by European authorities.
The report indicated that, from the Moroccan port, the vessel crossed the Atlantic several times each year, returning loaded with cocaine for the European market.
Spanish authorities said that the Sky White then acted as a mother ship that delivered drugs to smaller boats in areas near the Canary Islands or the Iberian Peninsula.
This case’s investigation received support from police services in the United Kingdom (NCA), the United States (DEA), and Portugal (Judicial Police).
The Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime Intelligence Center (CITCO) and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) also coordinated these efforts, the statement added.
The operation is part of the fight against international drug trafficking through the “Atlantic Route,” a major drug trafficking axis linking South America and the Caribbean to Europe.
Spanish authorities commend the effectiveness of international cooperation and the central role that Moroccan services played in dismantling this network.
Morocco has been playing a major role in combating drug trafficking and international human trafficking. The country has foiled a whopping 92,346 drug-trafficking-related cases, arresting 119,692 individuals, including 287 foreigners.
