It seemed it would be a routine police operation after a tipoff came in regarding a vessel ferrying 2.3 tonnes of cocaine from South America to Spain. But what came next could have been plucked out of a Hollywood blockbuster, as Spanish police found themselves negotiating for hours on the high seas with an alleged armed smuggler who claimed to have shot one of his compatriots, thrown him overboard and taken the rest hostage.
Spanish authorities said on Wednesday that nine people were arrested during the high-stakes operation, which took place in November but was kept under wraps until the investigation was completed.
It was launched after police caught wind of a cocaine shipment that was allegedly making its way across the Atlantic – in what the ministry described as a “mothership” named Sea Paradise – and was to be transferred to a smaller vessel heading to the Canary Islands.
As police prepared to intercept the Panama-flagged ship, “the agents learned that one member of the tugboat crew, of Serbian origin, had kidnapped the rest of the crew”, Spain’s interior ministry said in a statement. It continued: “Furthermore, in order to take control of the boat, the kidnapper would have shot one of the men and later thrown his body into the sea.”
The news sent police scrambling. Less than 12 hours later they were in the Atlantic, close to where the 45-metre tug was navigating. The priority was now protecting the lives of those who had been kidnapped, the ministry said.
What followed was an hours-long negotiation on the high seas, said the ministry, “until they finally managed to get the kidnapper to drop his weapon and surrender to authorities”. The alleged kidnapper-smuggler was taken into custody.
The eight other members of the crew, who the ministry said had “feared for their lives” before they were rescued by police, were also arrested.
The vessel was brought to Tenerife, where it was searched. Agents found 2.3 tonnes of cocaine hidden onboard, divided into neat bundles and attached to lights and empty water bottles to allow them to float in the water until they could be located, the ministry said.
