A joint investigation by the National Police narcotics squad in Palma and the Tax Agency has led to the interception of a yacht off Cartagena (Murcia) and the seizure of 4,760 kilos of hashish. Two people are currently under arrest - two Bulgarian crew members, one of whom has previously been arrested in the Balearics.
When the Floriana was 67 miles off Cartagena, agents from the Customs Surveillance Service (part of the Tax Agency) boarded the yacht and found the bales of hashish.
Drugs were being moved between Mallorca and Ibiza, and it was a court of instruction in Ibiza which authorised the search. There were 139 bales in all for what is one of the largest seizures in recent years resulting from an investigation directly related to the Balearics.
The drugs gang changed the name and flag of the yacht in order to try and evade police controls. It is the same organization which was last year at the centre of the seizure of more than four tonnes of hashish.