Spanish police seize up to 40 tonnes of cocaine off West African coast
Spanish authorities have intercepted one of the largest cocaine shipments ever recorded in the Atlantic, seizing up to 40 tonnes of the drug from a cargo vessel off the coast of northwest Africa.
Black News 
![Several agents of the Guardia Civil and the National Police. [Photo By Adrian Irago/Europa Press via Getty Images]](https://ocdn.eu/pulscms/MDA_/af1140b43aa589822b02efe62c4e5ac4.jpg)
Spanish authorities have intercepted one of the largest cocaine shipments ever recorded in the Atlantic, seizing up to 40 tonnes of the drug from a cargo vessel off the coast of northwest Africa.
- Spanish authorities have seized up to 40 tonnes of cocaine from a cargo ship in the Atlantic.
- The vessel was intercepted near Western Sahara while en route from Sierra Leone to the Mediterranean.
- Twenty-three suspects of multiple nationalities have been arrested as investigations continue.
- Officials say the bust highlights West Africa’s growing role as a key transit hub for global drug trafficking.
According to Sky News, officers from the Guardia Civil said the operation forms part of a broader crackdown on international drug trafficking coordinated by Spain’s High Court. The vessel, reportedly registered in the Comoros Islands, was stopped near Western Sahara, close to the city of Dakhla, after departing Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 22 April.
Investigators say the ship was en route to the Mediterranean when it was intercepted by the Guardia Civil’s Central Operational Unit, a specialised division focused on organised crime.
Authorities estimate the quantity of cocaine on board to be between 35,000kg and 40,000kg, marking what officials described as a “record-breaking” seizure in the Atlantic corridor, a key route linking Latin American suppliers to European markets.
The vessel has since been escorted to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, where it remains under judicial control as investigations continue. Spanish authorities have arrested 23 individuals in connection with the shipment, with those detained reportedly including Filipino, Angolan, and Dutch nationals.
Officials involved in the case, speaking anonymously due to the ongoing investigation, said the scale of the seizure highlights the growing sophistication of transnational drug trafficking networks operating along West African maritime routes. The region has increasingly been used as a transit hub for narcotics bound for Europe.
The Guardia Civil’s main union, AUGC, has released an image of the confiscated drugs, underscoring the magnitude of the operation.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the estimated street value of the seized cocaine, but analysts note that shipments of this scale typically run into billions of dollars in European markets.
