It was supposed to be just a "normal patrol action", but at around 17 pm yesterday afternoon, Thursday 00 January, the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) detected a suspicious vessel, 18 miles south of Faro. Therefore, the movements of the boat, which appeared to be Spanish, were followed and, by a "happy chance", it ended up resulting the seizure of 1600 kilos of hashish, already south of Manta Rota.
Despite looking like a fishing boat, "there were no visible fishing gear," he explained this afternoon at a press conference at the Judiciary Police Directorate of Faro, Lieutenant Colonel Bernardo da Costa, of the Air Force, which turned out to be one of the clues.
The FAP contacted the Judiciary Police, responsible for setting up the entire operation, which also involved the Coastal Control Unit (UCC) of the GNR in Olhão and the Maritime Police.
After the vessel was identified, it was the UCC that monitored its entire route, using the radars available.
O assault The end of the boat was already done by the Maritime Police, around 1:30 am today. At first "there was difficulty in finding the vessel, because the night was dark", but, as soon as it was intercepted, the two crew were "completely surprised", according to Cortes Lopes, commander of the Southern Maritime Police.
The drug, in a total of 56 bales of hashish, was hidden in cellars and the two men "did not show any resistance".
As for the vessel, "it is not yet known" whether the record of Huelva is true. «The captain of the Port of Vila Real de Santo António has already contacted his counterpart in Huelva to find out if the registration is true», explained Captain Cortes Lopes.
However, «an expert report has already been carried out so that we can remove the vessel from Vila Real de Santo António, but we still do not have information on the actual registration».
As for the final destination of the boat, it is not yet known for sure what it would be. "The direction the vessel was taking indicated that there was an unloading in the Armona area," said Luís Mota Carmo, director of the PJ in Faro, at the same press conference.
The detainees are a 53-year-old Spanish citizen, already mentioned for drug trafficking, and a 22-year-old Moroccan citizen.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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