National Police agents and Customs Surveillance officers from the Tax Agency freed eight hostages during a narcotics hijacking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Members of a criminal organization were detained after another crew member, a Serb, seized control of the ship while transporting more than 2,300 kilograms of cocaine.
To gain control of the vessel, the kidnapper allegedly fired at one crew member and later cast his body into the sea. Within less than 12 hours, a response team reached the Atlantic location of the vessel and, after hours of negotiations at sea, secured the arrest of the hijacker and the other eight crew members.
The operation, which took place last November and has remained under judicial secrecy, began when investigators were probing a criminal network attempting to bring 2.3 tons of cocaine into Spain from South America aboard a tugboat.
The investigators learned that the drug would be transferred to a smaller vessel very close to the Canary Islands, prompting a joint setup with Customs Surveillance to detain the crew and seize the narcotics. The joint team identified the mother ship Sea Paradise, which waited to transfer the drugs to the second vessel.
Hours before the expected boarding, authorities learned that a Serb crew member aboard the tug had kidnapped the rest of the crew. He also reportedly fired on a crew member to seize control of the vessel.
Logistical and personnel resources were quickly mobilized. Specialists from Customs Surveillance loaded a detachment onto their ship Condor to handle the situation with the life safety of the kidnapped crew as the top priority.
In less than 12 hours, the intervention team arrived at the Atlantic point where the vessel was located. At that moment, officers boarded the Sea Paradise and established initial contact with the crew, who confirmed they were being held by an armed Serb who had fired on one of their colleagues.
At sea, a joint team of police and Customs Surveillance negotiators spent hours in talks before the hijacker laid down the weapon and surrendered to the authorities. The crew was saved, the narcotics were seized, and directions were set toward Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s port.
Once ashore, officers searched the ship and found a hard-to-access compartment containing the 2,300 kilograms of cocaine, arranged in bales linked to strobe lights and water drums so the drugs could float and be recovered later. These details underscored the meticulous planning used to conceal the cargo during transit.
As a result of Operation Neptune, nine people have been detained, 2.3 tons of cocaine were seized, and electronic and satellite equipment was recovered, highlighting the coordinated effort between maritime security and inland authorities to disrupt organized crime at sea.