Seven people have been arrested after 3.7 tonnes of cocaine was found on board an ocean going tugboat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Spanish authorities intercepted the vessel around 540 miles off the Canary Islands after acting on intelligence from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).

An extensive search of the tugboat resulted in the discovery of 165 individual packages of cocaine, hidden in a watertight compartment beneath the galley floor.

Each package contained around 23 kilos of powder.

The NCA said that while the destinations of the drugs isn’t known, if cut and sold in European countries “they could have fetched over 200 million pounds”.

The ocean going tugboat, Thoran, where the drugs were found

The seven crew – six men from Turkey and one from Azerbaijan – were arrested by Spanish officers, and the Cormoros-flagged vessel towed into the Spanish port of Cadiz on Friday afternoon (6 October).

The tugboat, which originated from Colombia, had been monitored by the authorities across the Atlantic Ocean since mid-September.

Continues below…

400kg of cocaine discovered on yacht off the Azores

The Italian-flagged yacht was 600 nautical miles off the Azores when it was intercepted by the Portuguese authorities

12 Brits held as part of a gang smuggling cocaine via speedboat into Magaluf

Spanish police have arrested 14 people, including 12 Brits, who are alleged to be part of a gang smuggling cocaine…

Rescue operation in Aegean Sea turns into drug bust and arrests

The Hellenic Coast Guard has announced the arrests of three Turkish sailors after cannabis was found on board their wooden…

The operation involved NCA, Spanish Customs (DAVA), the Spanish National Police and the Spanish Civil Guard, and was coordinated by the multi-national Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) in Lisbon.

The drugs were found in a water-tight compartment under the galley

There was also collaboration of the Dirección de Antinarcóticos (DIRAN) – Anti-Narcotics Directorate of Colombia.

Mark Blackwell from the NCA, said: “Seizing this quantity of cocaine represents a major disruption to international crime groups, depriving them of revenue potentially running into the hundreds of millions of pounds.”

“We’re working with colleagues in Europe and around the world to disrupt organised criminals in any way we can, and to protect UK and European borders from attempts to smuggle illegal commodities through them,” he added.