The detection of a suspicious high-speed boat along the coast of the Algarve has led Portugal's National Republican Guard (GNR) to seize 3.1 tonnes of cocaine abandoned on a beach in Olhão, following a large-scale coastal surveillance operation.
In a statement released on 11 July, the GNR said its Coastal and Border Control Unit (UCCF), through the Olhão Coastal Control Detachment, seized approximately three tonnes of cocaine and a vehicle during the operation over the past weekend.
The investigation was launched after Portugal's Integrated Surveillance, Command, and Control System (SIVICC) detected what authorities described as a "suspicious high-speed vessel" operating off the Algarve coast.
Using land, sea, and air assets, officers traced the activity to an access road leading to a nearby beach, where they located a light commercial vehicle commonly used to transport and distribute drugs brought ashore by sea.
The vehicle's occupants appeared to have abandoned it and fled on foot before officers could apprehend them. No arrests have yet been made in connection with the case.
Authorities seized 91 bales of cocaine, weighing an estimated 3,130 kilograms, along with the vehicle and two signal jammers believed to have been used during the trafficking operation.
The operation was supported by additional personnel from the Faro Territorial Command as investigations continue.
Source: GNR
Photo credit: GNR
