The Civil Guard dismantled an important projection platform of Narcolanchas, established next to the Chafarinas Islands
The operation involved more than 150 civil guards of air, sea and land units, and 6 people have been arrested and 3 fast boats have been intervened.
Narcolanchas constituted a "maritime nursery", used to transport large amounts of "hashish" and provide logistical support on the high seas to criminal organizations in the south of the peninsula
They used the vicinity of the Chafarinas Islands, located about twenty-seven nautical miles from Melilla, as a base of operations from the sea and natural shelter from the wind
The Civil Guard, within the framework of Operation KARSANA, has dismantled an important criminal organization dedicated to introducing, by sea, large amounts of hashish into Spain from Morocco.
The Operation was born at the beginning of this year after the information obtained by analysts of the Civil Guard about new routes and procedures used by drug traffickers, as a consequence of the police pressure exercised in the Campo de Gibraltar and its area of influence. In the initial contribution of data and confirmation of the information obtained, we have had the collaboration of the Operations Command of the Defense Staff.
In that sense, the Civil Guard began a phase of obtaining and analyzing the information, related to an important and powerful organization that would have established a platform for fast boats in the sea next to the Chafarinas Islands. Its mission was to supply fuel and drugs on the high seas to different organizations located in the peninsula.
In this way, the organization had created a "maritime drug and fuel nursery" next to the islands, where they had been established to operate from the sea and sheltered from the winds. This system gave them greater security than keeping the drug on the ground. In addition, carrying out transshipments far from the coasts of Morocco, ensured less exposure to Moroccan police forces.
The research work carried out on the area, based mainly on the information and collaboration provided at all times by the Operations Command of the Defense General Staff, through the General Command of Melilla – Army, and that provided by the air forces and naval of the Civil Guard, has allowed to know how the number of boats established in the area was variable. The boats are all of the pneumatic-semi-rigid type, but of different lengths (between 12 to 14 m) and number of engines (2, 3 and 4 engines), which gives them great versatility in their drug trafficking operations.
Most of the boats are equipped with radars and state-of-the-art technology to carry out the "encounters and transshipments of the drug on the high seas". In their departures from that "nursery", which performed all at once before dawn and with different directions, each of them could transport more than three thousand kilograms of hashish, which gives an idea of the volume of drugs that moved the organization . That is why it is considered that the operation carried out is one of the most important against the logistics and infrastructure of international drug trafficking, and unprecedented.
The investigation has also made it possible to know the daily operations of the organization, in which the nails and their crew stayed overnight at the shelter of the Chafarinas Islands, where they clustered one another in groups.
Those that had the task of transporting drugs or fuel, before starting the voyage, approached fishing boats that supplied them with merchandise. Once loaded they went to certain points of transshipments located in the Sea of Alborán.
There have been several actions carried out by the Civil Guard on the southern coasts of the peninsula, in which the presence of vessels of the investigated organization has been detected. Among them, it is worth mentioning the one developed last May. On this occasion one of these narcolanchas made a transfer of hashish to a luxury yacht, near the coast of Fuengirola (Málaga). In this operation, the Maritime Service was able to proceed with the boarding of the yacht, which transported 3,000 kg of hashish, and the arrest of its four crew members.
Transfers have been observed to all types of vessels, whether recreational, fishing or other narco-lanterns, which subsequently introduced the drug into the peninsula. The farthest transshipments were carried out by the boats of greater power and length (quadrimotor of 14 meters). At dusk, once the tasks of transporting hashish or logistics, the boats returned to the vicinity of the islands, waiting to perform new "jobs"
That the organization established its base of operations in the Chafarinas Islands is fundamentally due to the fact that they provide protection from the inclemencies of the open sea and the storms. As a result of the investigation, it has been possible to determine how the Narcolanchas took refuge in the vicinity of the island of King Francisco or that of the Congress, depending on the speed and direction of the wind, whether west or east.
Exploitation phase of the Operation
Once the manner of proceeding of the drug traffickers was known, a broad device was established to stop the components of the organization and intercept the vessels. The team has participated more than 150 Civil Guards of different air, sea and land units.
As a result of the coordination of the operational intervention has been surprised, neutralized and arrested 6 people, seizing 3 boats.
The approach has been made from the sea, giving priority to the safety of the operation, both of the acting civil guards and detainees.
The arrested crew members are charged with the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, drug trafficking and contraband.
The detainees, effects and boats have been transferred by a vessel of the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard to the Port of Melilla, for its putting to judicial disposition of the Court of Guard of the Autonomous City.
This operation, framed in the effort developed by the Civil Guard in the fight against the criminal organizations that operate in the Campo de Gibraltar and its area of influence, aims to pursue drug traffickers wherever they can be established, there being no limits to combat them , no place where they can take refuge from the action of the FCSE.
With this operation are already more than 210 operations operated by the Civil Guard, since last September, in the Campo de Gibraltar and its nearby area of influence, proceeding to the arrest of 1,500 people and seizing more than 190,000 kg of hashish .
For the extension or confirmation of any other data, you can contact the Peripheral Communication Office of the Civil Guard of Seville, at 630900403.
