Sky News Reports Spanish Police Intercept 35-40 Tonnes of Cocaine on Ship That Left Freetown
Monday 4 May 2026
Spanish police have intercepted a cargo ship carrying between 35,000 and 40,000kg of cocaine off the coast of northwest Africa, Sky News reports.https://news.sky.com/story/record-cocaine-seizure-made-by-spanish-police-off-coast-of-western-sahara-13540069
Officers from the Guardia Civil’s Central Operational Unit found the massive haul on a 90-metre vessel registered in the Comoros Islands. The ship had left Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 22 April and was heading for the Mediterranean.
The vessel was intercepted near Dakhla off the Western Sahara region and escorted to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, where it is now held by a Spanish court.
The Guardia Civil described the seizure as “record-breaking in the Atlantic,” according to Sky News. The operation forms part of a major crackdown on international drug trafficking overseen by Spain’s High Court.
