Spanish police seize huge cocaine haul

Spanish police seized nearly five tons of cocaine aboard a fishing vessel and arrested 20 people in the culmination of a six-month probe, officials said.

Police boarded the Senegalese-flagged fishing vessel South Sea on Saturday about 80 miles off Lisbon, as it headed for Spain and they arrested the vessel’s six-man crew.

The ship was taken to the northwestern port of Villagarcia de Arousa where anti-drug squads of the Spanish national police searched for cocaine with the help of sniffer dogs.

Officials with Spain’s National Drug Plan said police found 150 bales of cocaine hidden in the bow of the boat, which had been bound for Spain.

“It’s a very important anti-drug operation in terms of both the amount of drug apprehended and the number of people arrested,” Gonzalo Robles, head of the National Drug Plan, said.

In the same operation, police arrested 14 people in the northwest Galicia region. More arrests are possible, officials said.

Spain, especially Galicia, is a major entry point for cocaine being shipped from South America and Africa to Europe.