How did the sloop that had to be recovered in Tarifa fare a few hours after departing Sotogrande due to sailing issues? It was November 29 when Arhoa’s captain and a mechanic named Ezequiel from Argentina, along with Julio César, managed to repair the vessel for the rest of that day and the next. On December 1, shortly after taking to the sea again toward the Canary Islands as a stepping stone toward their homeland, the sailboat was boarded in the Bosphorus by the Customs Surveillance patrol boat Fénix V and steered back to the port of La Rada. National Police documentation would begin thereafter [Citation: Police records].
This inspection proved lengthy. It stretched from daytime into night. The air smelled of strong chemical odors as last-minute patches and comments suggested it would be reckless to cross the Atlantic with a vessel in such a condition. During the examination, 47-year-old Ezequiel personified a stereotype of bluntness, talking freely as if he had always known who had turned his boat upside down. He even attempted to ease tension with jokes, acknowledging the agents’ work and explaining that he served as a lawyer for the Argentine Naval Administration, the maritime authority of his country [Citation: Maritime records].
But the chatter faded when the police arrived. The Technical Interventions Operational Group GOIT focused intently on a kitchen cabinet piece. The silence startled the agents who had finally found the contraband. A hidden compartment lined with aluminum plate housed 28 packets coated with diesel, masking the odor of the 56 kilos of MDMA contained inside. It marked a historic seizure due to the quantity, the method of concealment, and the intended destination. The National Police had already blocked the first known shipment of ecstasy and a sea route linking Europe to South America for designer drugs that had previously been leveraged primarily for cannabis shipments. This marked a new chapter, with drugs moved by sea bypassing the old, smaller-scale mule routes used on intercontinental flights [Citation: Police briefing].
The moment when the patrol boat Fénix V halted Ezequiel’s narctic sailboat in the Bosphorus is captured in a photo retained by authorities. The scene underscored the gravity of the intervention and the readiness of the team to act on a potentially large-scale operation [Citation: Police archive].
Within the narcotics economy, the operation involving Ezequiel, Julio César, and three companions who were detained in Marbella fits a global pattern. MDMA, which can fetch as much as 48,000 euros per kilogram in the Spanish wholesale market, was rising in price in South America as demand grew. Police sources estimated that the seized haul could have yielded a substantial number of tablets if distributed in Argentina. A theoretical value of up to 48 million dollars on the black market was considered, with a price range around 30 to 40 dollars per unit. Investigators suggested that such a quantity might have origins in production centers in the Netherlands and could have been part of a broader summer flow that found its way to the Costa del Sol for seasonal events [Citation: Police analysis].
In the broader narrative, Argentine authorities were watching closely. The routine investigation work by Greco Costa del Sol, the Central Narcotics Brigade Udyco, and Customs Surveillance helped piece together a longer history. The talkative captain had prior notoriety in his homeland from a separate incident involving the same sailboat then known as Thorben. In 2013, authorities uncovered 43 kilos of cocaine in a private club in Buenos Aires. In 2020, he narrowly escaped a major operation involving 1,500 kilos of cocaine in San Pedro Alcántara. This vessel had previously carried a heavy cargo to the Costa del Sol adapted for the open sea, with Marbella as a waypoint. The crew, including the captain, faced scrutiny, but the exact moment some suspects swelled with fear was not witnessed by all parties involved [Citation: National police records].
Ezequiel left Spain quickly, taking precautions. The fifteen-meter schooner Thorben was left abandoned in Marbella’s marina until last October, when the Argentine returned to the Costa del Sol via Brazil to confront a new challenge. He and his companions retrieved the vessel, which had deteriorated from inactivity, and first transported it to Puerto Banús. They then painted it white in Sotogrande and, with work finished inside and out, renamed it Arhoa for a fresh journey of up to 10,000 kilometers in a straight line [Citation: Local maritime records].
past in argentina
When drugs were found, investigators Greco Costa del Sol, the Central Narcotics Brigade Udyco, and Customs Surveillance had already done their homework. They knew the talkative captain carried a history in his homeland, including an incident tied to the same sailboat when it carried the name Thorben. In 2013, Argentine police found 43 kilos of cocaine in a private club in Buenos Aires. In 2020, he narrowly escaped a major operation involving 1,500 kilos of cocaine in San Pedro Alcántara. The boat arrived on the Costa del Sol from Argentina and joined others at the Malaga shores, with some members swelling with fear but not all witnesses agreeing on the exact moment. The vessel and its crew were tied to a broader web of drug movements through the Atlantic [Citation: Court records].
Ezequiel departed Spain in a hurry, leaving the Thorben behind in the Marbella marina. It was not until last October that the Argentine returned to the Costa del Sol via Brazil to face a new test. He and his companions retrieved the vessel, which had suffered the effects of time and disuse, and first moved it to Puerto Banús. They then refinished it, painting it white in Sotogrande, and renamed it Arhoa, setting out for a fresh odyssey of up to ten thousand kilometers in a straight line [Citation: Marine voyage log].