Here's evidence organized drug trafficking rings are relentless
Seven high-end sailboats stuffed to the gills with 40 tons of hashish
crewed by Russians and Bulgarians sailing from North Africa for Europe
And all of them were caught. But they keep coming
Another sailboat by the same gang was being tallied this week
The Mob Reporter here documenting the rise of the narcovelero
in English "drug sailboats" — gentlemanly pleasure craft riding the wind and the
waves, courtesy of an Eastern European gang based in Spain and pegged by police as the
largest criminal organization dedicated to trafficking hashish in Europe by sea
Let me tell you about it. More than 25 people have so far been arrested in the probe
both on land and sea. Most were Bulgarian and Russian gangsters, police said
I'll show you the freshest catch of the day first — on Nov. 27, 2021, police in
Spain intercepted a rather nice sailboat, called the Floriana and sailing under the Polish flag
police tracked it leaving a Spanish island and heading out into the Mediterranean Sea
where aerial surveillance revealed it was met by two high-powered motorboats
launched from North Africa. Police say cargo was moved from the speedboats onto the yacht
The next day, the Floriana was intercepted and boarded by police, 67 miles off the coast of
the Spanish city of Cartagena. Four thousand seven hundred and sixty kilograms of hashish and two men
were found on board. There was zero surprise the boat was loaded down with bales of hash, and the
same can be said for the fact the two sailors were Bulgarians. Police had been through this all before —
not just metaphorically or generally, but very, very specifically — the same gang, moving the same product
the same way, with one of the same guys at the helm. Officers were even familiar with this very boat
The last time they were tracking the Floriana police say it was called the Salacia and
sailed under a Dutch flag. That was in 2020 when police thought they had this gang all wrapped up
Back then Spanish police announced the arrest of nine Bulgarians and two Russians after a
remarkable marathon of maritime interceptions, hailed as the largest ever attack against hashish
trafficking by sea. The gang's trick was using high-end sport styled sailboats, filling them with
bales of compressed hash in North Africa and then scooting into European waters to unload for sale
The gangsters would change their boat's names and flags often; a boat's flag is supposed to
reflect the country where the boat is registered. The roots of this major police operation go back
to October 2019. Spain's national police and the customs surveillance office detected a suspicious
sailboat called the Amaalta operating around Majorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean
off Spain's Eastern coast. An investigation revealed the boat to be part of something bigger —
much bigger. Investigators linked suspects to several other sailboats in the area
all owned by citizens of former Soviet Bloc countries. The first strike came in October 2020
a 56-foot Dutch flagged sailboat was tracked as it pulled up its anchor in Majorca and cut through
the Mediterranean, stopping in areas known as drug loading regions before turning towards Spain
The police interception wasn't a stealthy strike. When the crew of the sailboat saw the
customs patrol, they set their cargo and boat on fire, trying to destroy the evidence before
officers could grab it. They'd hoped the fire would sink the boat taking the evidence down
with it. The sailboat was quickly boarded in rough seas police secured 4,244 kilos of hash
They also found a frequency jammer, four mobile phones, two computers, and a tablet
Two men on board were arrested, both were citizens of Bulgaria. One was 24 years old and the other 45
Their sailboat, ironically, was named Phase One. That was fabulously appropriate it was indeed phase one
for police, for this chase was just the beginning. During the interception of that sailboat police
spotted a similar one not far away. It seemed to be waiting for the phase one and it skedaddled
east after the interception. The sailboat that fled was the Floriana. It got away then
but despite changing its name, its ownership, and its national flag, police still recognized it
when it returned to Spanish waters 20 months later. And there was much more action to come
Perhaps realizing its cover was blown, the gang shifted operations away from the Mediterranean
to the Atlantic. In July 2020, a British-flagged sailboat called the Hanna was intercepted in
the Atlantic off Spain's southwest coast. The 48-foot sailboat was carrying a modest
load, just 360 kilos. Then, that September, a major alert went out. Four of the group's sailboats set
sail almost simultaneously. Within just a few hours each boat set sail from the Canary Islands
Those are Spanish territories in the Atlantic off the western coast of Africa
Their plan seems to be to blitz the coast rather than have boats picked off one by one
After all, how many times have you read viewer comments on my channel after each bus saying
things like: "This is just a distraction shipment while 10 others went through"?
To respond to the flotilla, authorities mustered a new Spanish armada: five police
patrol ships, a naval vessel, a helicopter, and an airplane. It included this bad boy
They intercepted four sailboats in five days in September 2020. All of the yachts arranged by the
same criminal network, police say. Between them, it was found they carried 30 tons of hashish
First a British flagged boat the 72-foot Sweet Breeze was intercepted on September
24th in international waters off the Canary Islands. Officers found 10,700 kilos on board
That same day a 61-foot sailboat, called the Eagle Ray was intercepted near the Strait of Gibraltar
It carried 9,300 kilos. There was a local report that that boat's purchased in the name of a Czech
citizen was financed by the Camorra, the Italian Mafia based in Naples. If that's true, it would mean
the Mafia was getting a piece of the action. Two days later a German flagged sailboat was intercepted
by a navy patrol boat — with the warship's forward 76-millimeter cannon it must have
been intimidating for those on board the 56-foot sailboat. This sailboat was the Amaalta, which was
the first boat that attracted police attention to the group forming on Spain's islands. It too was
stopped in the Atlantic. This one off the coast of Mauritania. An estimated 4,500 kilos were on board
That boat was found damaged and leaking badly, but the gangland sailors were able to keep it
afloat and stay on mission despite the rough seas. But while it was being towed to port by
the navy, it sank. The last of those caught in this net was the Carla. This 53-footer sailed under a
Dutch flag and was intercepted two days after the Amaalta. It was stopped off Spain's Atlantic coast
with 6,000 kilos on board. The six sailboats themselves were worth more than 5-million euros
not including their cargo. Police say the loss of the gang's logistical capacity
from losing the boats, the men, and the secrecy of their routes is as important as capturing their
cargo. It no doubt knocked them back a bit, but does anyone think they stopped? Of course not
Even after the fallout continued to hit them. Almost precisely a year after it was seized
just this spring, the pair of Bulgarians arrested on the first boat, the Phase One, accepted a guilty
plea in court. They acknowledged they were paid by a crime group to haul hash from Algeria to Europe
They were each sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 12.8
million euros — that's 14.5 million U.S. dollars. The Russian crew of the Eagle Ray plead guilty
the next month. They were sent to prison for five years each, and fined 15 million euros. I don't know
if the men being lined up to replace them heard this news. If they did, it didn't stop them from
trying it for themselves. Investigators said the group originally distributed cocaine in Europe
but COVID restrictions curtailed their business — so they looked for alternatives
They assembled the fleet of sailboats, recruited trusted sailors with ties to their homelands
and tried hard to look like recreational sailors — riding out the pandemic with life on the high seas
Their plan was to avoid the obvious route from Africa to Europe, which is the shortest and fastest
speeding in high-powered motor boats across the Strait of Gibraltar. This is where only eight miles
of water separates Europe and Africa. For years speed boats have been flying across this water
trying to make landfall in Spain before being caught. These guys however were going for comfort
not for speed. While authorities were watching the strait for motorboats they hoped to load up on the
Atlantic side and sail up Africa's west coast, avoiding the cat and mouse of the Mediterranean
They were bold, we can give them that. They didn't really hide the cargo on board
counting on the camouflage of their nice sailboats to avoid scrutiny
What's more, they even labeled their illicit cargo. Did you notice this packaging earlier?
The lettering here, my Arabic-reading friends tell me, means "flower of the countryside"
"Flower of the countryside" is often used as a metaphor for hashish
Hashish is concentrated resin from cannabis plants, after all, which are grown in the countryside
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