Ten arrested after armed drug boat attack on Civil Guard in Huelva
A drug boat opened fire on a Civil Guard patrol boat in waters off Huelva. The operation resulted in ten arrests and the seizure of nearly six tonnes of hashish.
Armed attack from drug boat on Huelva coast results in ten arrests and nearly six tonnes of hashish
Google News ES — Crime (es) reports that ten alleged drug traffickers have been arrested by the Civil Guard and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency following the armed attack suffered by a patrol boat of the Provincial Maritime Service of Huelva in the early hours of 17-18 August. In the gunfire, one of the traffickers was wounded and was abandoned by his companions on the coast of Cádiz.
The incident occurred when a Civil Guard patrol boat began pursuing a semi-rigid vessel suspected of involvement in drug-trafficking operations off the coast of Huelva. The occupants of the drug boat carried out multiple manoeuvres described as "evasive and of extreme danger, putting the lives of the officers at serious risk", according to a statement released by the Civil Guard on Saturday.
During the pursuit, the traffickers threw part of their cargo into the sea with the aim of hampering the navigation of the patrol boats and "attempting to cause damage" to them. The situation escalated when the occupants of the vessel opened fire on the officers, who responded with several shots to repel the attack. The drug boat managed to escape after the patrol boat suffered a breakdown as a result of the pursuit.
The severity of the attack prompted the security forces to deploy a specific operation to locate the vessel, detain its occupants, recover any illegal cargo and identify possible support vessels.
On 20 August, in the morning, civil guards carried out a "coordinated assault" on the vessel involved in the shooting, located in a new position, and on a second drug boat providing it with support on the open sea. The raid culminated in the interception of both vessels, the seizure of 5,926 kilogrammes of hashish and the arrest of nine crew members.
In parallel, officers located and arrested a tenth member of the organisation, the individual who had been shot and wounded during the confrontation and who his own companions had left abandoned on the coast of Cádiz. He was later transferred to a hospital in Puerto Real.
In total, the operation resulted in the seizure of two drug boats and nearly six tonnes of hashish, which the Civil Guard described as "a significant blow against one of the criminal organisations operating in the south of the Peninsula".
The attack on the patrol boat occurred just one day after two hooded individuals shot dead two women and a minor in the Huelva town of Isla Cristina, an incident under investigation as a possible settling of scores related to clashes between drug-trafficking clans. The escalation of violence is taking place on the Huelva coast, in the middle of the tourist season, in a context where professional associations such as AUGC have denounced the lack of resources available to officers.
The investigation remains open with the aim of clarifying the involvement of each person detained in the attack on the officers and determining individual responsibilities within the criminal organisation.
The operation was carried out jointly by the Provincial Maritime Service of Huelva, the Special Intervention Unit (UEI), the Judicial Police Operational Unit (UOPJ) of Huelva, the Regional Centre for Analysis and Intelligence against Drug Trafficking (CRAIN) and the Customs Surveillance Service (DAVA). Judicial oversight was provided by the Central Court of First Instance of the National Court acting as emergency court.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)