The Judicial Police announced yesterday that, with the support of the Portuguese Navy, it had launched an operation to combat international drug trafficking by sea, intercepting a sailboat off the western group of the Azores Archipelago (between the islands of Flores and Corvo). a 11-meter sailboat that was crossing the Atlantic Ocean between South America and Europe and was carrying approximately 1,660 kg of cocaine.

According to information released to the press, Operation Vikings is the result of a complex investigation carried out over the last two years, aimed at dismantling an international criminal organization operating across continents, dedicated to smuggling large quantities of cocaine into Europe and using our country as a platform for this purpose.

Due to poor safety and navigability conditions, the three crew members of the sailboat, who have since been detained by the PJ, as well as the narcotics, were taken to the Navy ship, which deployed a wide range of resources from the Naval Component of the Armed Forces, namely command and control, patrol and surveillance, and force projection capabilities, involving more than 50 military personnel.

Given the complexity of the operation, the investigation was assisted by the Portuguese Air Force, the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center-Narcotics (MAOC-N), the Ponta Delgada Maritime Police, and the Ponta Delgada Port Authority.

Similarly, given the nationality of those targeted and the geographical dispersion of their activities, the assistance provided by foreign counterparts in the context of international police cooperation was considered relevant, in particular the Spanish National Police, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Danish National Special Crime Unit (NSK Danish Police), and the French and Irish authorities. of the USA), the Danish National Special Crimes Unit (NSK, Danish Police), and the authorities of France and Ireland.

The three individuals arrested on the intercepted and seized vessel, aged between 43 and 51 and of foreign nationality, will be brought before the competent judicial authority at the Court of Ponta Delgada for initial questioning and the application of coercive measures.

The investigation is being conducted by the Portimão DIC of the PJ, and the inquiry is being led by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Regional DIAP in Évora.

At the same time, as part of an investigation opened in Spain targeting the same criminal organization, the Spanish National Police, through the Greco Costa Del Sol Section – Drug and Organized Crime Unit (UDYCO), in coordination with the PJ, simultaneously launched Operation “Aproa,” during which it was possible to arrest a man believed to be the leader of the organization and seized, at his residence, €63,000 in cash, a GPS device, a taser pistol, numerous items of computer and communications equipment, some of which were encrypted, as well as an unspecified amount of foreign currency, as stated in the note issued by the Judiciary Police.

In Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director

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