Spanish police have drawn attention to what they call a process of reinvention by criminal organizations when it comes to transporting drugs from Latin America to Europe via the Atlantic route. The most recent episode was dubbed “the narcovacas”.
On the 28th, Spanish police announced the seizure of 4,500 kilos of cocaine on a ship near the Canary Islands flying the flag of Togo, a West African nation, and crew from countries such as Tanzania, Syria, Kenya, Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and Nicaragua.
The curious factor of the case is the place where the drug was hidden: in silos that stored food for the approximately 1,700 cows that were also on the vessel.
In a statement, the police said that the ship Orión V had already been inspected on another occasion, but that it was not possible to find the narcotics inside. Still, he came into the crosshairs of the police.
On January 24, however, an aerial device captured images of the drugs in a silo allegedly used to feed livestock.
The ship was known for transporting large amounts of cattle from Colombia to countries such as Libya, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Libya and Qatar.
The 28 crew members of the Orión V were detained and are being investigated. The boat was seized and taken to a port in Las Palmas, and the cows were placed on another vessel for Lebanon.
According to Colombian authorities informed El País, the ship left Cartagena, but without the drugs, which would have been introduced into the vessel during a stopover in the Antilles islands, in Central America. The cattle would be owned by a Barbados company.
The operation was conducted by the National Police of Spain and had the collaboration of the Anti-Drugs Agency (DEA), of the USA, in addition to Togolese authorities. The case is yet another in which a ship from South America transports illegal substances halfway across the Atlantic with a final destination in Europe.
Episodes of this type have multiplied in the region. Six days before the seizure of the Orión V, the freighter Blume, also carrying 4,500 kilos of cocaine, was detained by the Spanish department.
Colombia remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine. At the end of January, the Defense Ministry of Gustavo Petro’s government said that it seized a record volume of cocaine in 2022. There were, in all, 671 tons.
“It is necessary to combat illicit revenues from drug trafficking, which are harmful to our country,” said Defense Minister Iván Velásquez. Cocaine production and trafficking are considered the main driver of an armed conflict that has lasted nearly six decades in the country.
The National Liberation Army (ELN) armed group, FARC dissidents and criminal groups made up of former paramilitaries are involved in drug trafficking networks.
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