In an extraordinarily complex operation, Portuguese authorities boarded a sailing boat in the middle of the Atlantic, despite cyclonic winds and waves more than eight metres high. The reason: they had solid information it was smuggling cocaine into Europe. And sure enough almost two tons of the drug with an estimated street value of €90 million was discovered packed into the hull in dozens of suitcases.
The two men on board, a German and a Bosnian, have been presented before a judge.
Explain reports, ‘Operation Glória’ – so named because it took place during Storm Gloria – involved the collaboration of France, the UK, the United States and Spain, while Portuguese authorities – in the form of police, Navy Air Force – were those directly involved in the dramatic mid-Atlantic ‘swoop’.
The 25-metre Okyo sailing vessel was 900 kms from the Portuguese coast when it was boarded and apprehended after a two-week long undercover ‘pursuit’.
