Spanish police seize 1.5 tonnes of cocaine
December 23, 2009
Around 1.5 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of £375 million has been seized off the coast of Spain. Spanish police boarded the Destiny Express, a former coastguard vessel, 200 miles off shore and took it to port where it was searched and the drugs discovered. The vessel had been travelling from the West Indies and police suspect that the majority of the cocaine seized was bound for London.
The seizure of the drugs follows a lengthy operation conducted by the Metropolitan Police’s Central Task Force, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Spanish Police and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre. Investigations followed a gang of criminals whose network spanned London, Spain, Columbia and the Caribbean. The gang is thought to be involved in both the shipping of large quantities of class-A drugs as well as large scale money laundering of the profits.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Beyer of the Metropolitan Police’s Central Task Force said that the operation had been very demanding and extremely challenging and that he wanted to thank the Spanish Police for successfully securing the cocaine as well as the criminals involved. A number of the crew of the Destiny Express have been arrested for their involvement in the smuggling operation. Beyer went on to thank the members of his team saying that because of them London was under much less threat than it once was from this criminal network.
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