A 600-kilo haul of cocaine worth at least €19 million on the open market was seized on Tuesday (October 14) from a sailing boat as it approached the coast of Sagres.
Police, the Portuguese Navy and Air Force pilots had been tracking the boat since it left the Dominican Republic, sailing past the Azores and Madeira islands on its way to Portugal.
According to an announcement from Lisbon’s PGDL prosecutor’s office, the haul was destined for sale in Europe.
The announcement followed a previous communiqué about a much larger operation by combined authorities aimed at dismantling a network of organised crime that has been using this ‘modus operandi’ to bring drugs into Europe through Portugal.
For now, the two Ukrainian crew members discovered on the boat – both men, believed to be aged 39 and 45 – are in preventative custody.
Meantime, the PGDL investigations continue.
Cocaine valued at €19 million seized from sailing boat off Sagres
