The Spanish justice confirmed this Thursday a record seizure of 30 tons of cocaine in an operation that included the arrest of the 23 crew of the boat in which the stash was found.

The Arconian, with the flag of the Comoros islands, was intercepted by the Civil Guard on 1 May with a load that the National Audience valued at more than 812 million euros (956 million dollars).

In addition to more than almost 1,300 bales of drugs, the Civil Guard also seized “weapons” of war” aboard the vessel, the agency specified in a statement.

European record

Among the detainees, 17 are of Filipino nationality, five are Dutch and the last is from Suriname, he detailed. The operation , carried out in collaboration with authorities of the United States and Netherlands, will be detailed by the police this Friday.

This seizure eclipses the 25 tonnes recovered by German police in the port of Hamburg, Germany, in June 2024, which was the largest seizure in Europe, and more than doubles Spain's own record, established at 13 tons found last year.

The investigators believe that cocaine was going to be transferred to high-speed boats on the high seas to be smuggled into mainland Spain.