A new blow to drug smuggling in Gijón resulted in a Colombian 58-year-old man being stunned by a large shipment of drugs he was trying to smuggle into Spain from the port of El Musel. This person was traveling as a stowaway on the ship “Iraklis”. From the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. An operation carried out this Monday afternoon by agents of the National Police, Customs Surveillance and Civil Guard confirmed that the substance seized from this man was cocaine. In particular, an amount of around 120 kilos was divided into four bales and left to the custody of the Armed Institute by court decision. Agents continued to dog-check the inside of the boat late into the night in case there were more hidden bales.
180 meters long and 31 meters wide, Liberian flagged and all crewed from the Philippines, Arrived at North pier around half past four in the afternoon.in the expansion area. The crew left the Colombian port of Barranquilla on March 5, after five days in port. It is a boat used to transport commercial goods containing dunite. A mineral intended mainly for the steel industry. But in addition to official goods, the ship was carrying large quantities of cocaine, which this Colombian stowaway was trying to hide and smuggle into the country. It was the captain of the “Iraklis” who gave the warning sound when he noticed the presence of this man, who had been hiding in an existing structure on the deck of this ship, which had passed through ports in addition to Barranquilla in recent months. Puerto Cabello (Venezuela) and Rio Grande (Brazil).
The protocol on stowaway cases deployed in Al Musel by the Border Unit of the National Police Border Post was immediately activated. In the presence of the court, the agents subjected him to a drug test, which tested positive, for which the Colombian stowaway was immediately arrested. Officers from the Civil Guard, as well as officers responsible for Customs Surveillance of the Tax Office stationed at the northern pier, participated in the police operation. The arrested person was arrested while waiting for his statement to be taken before being brought to trial for drug trafficking charges. The investigation remains open.
Drug test on arrival
The operation against drug trafficking in El Musel took place just five days after the National Police raid on the Tremañes industrial area, uncovered by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA from the Prensa Ibérica group. A Chinese net hid 3,400 plants and 160 kilos of packed buds. It should also be noted that 175 kilos of cocaine, hidden in the chain box of the ship “Magda P”, was seized in the port of Gijón in May 2022.comes from colombia as in this case. Also in February, the “River”, a drug ship that had been moored in El Musel for two years, was extensively searched by the Police after its crew sank after discharging most of the drugs off the coast of Asturia. Especially 1,831 kilos. The Marines were all arrested (and awaiting conviction after being tried in the National Court) and suspected drug hiding, but nothing came of it.