The Turkish Interior Ministry has announced that four tons of cocaine which Spanish authorities recently seized from a cargo ship off the Canary Islands, whose crew members, including the captain, were mostly Turkish, had been transported from South America and loaded onto the vessel in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 70-meter-long Ras was sailing under the Tanzanian flag when it was intercepted 130 nautical miles from Lanzarote, the easternmost island of the Atlantic archipelago off northwest Africa. All of the crew — including seven Turks, two Azerbaijanis and a Dutchman — have been detained. The Turkish captain was among the detainees.
The ministry on Wednesday confirmed the detentions in a written statement on X.
4 TON KOKAİN İLE YAKALANAN “RAS” İSİMLİ GEMİ İLE İLGİLİ BASIN AÇIKLAMASI
4 Ekim 2024 günü İspanya ve Fransa güvenlik güçlerince Atlas Okyanusu Kanarya Adaları yakınlarında Tanzanya bayraklı RAS isimli gemiye düzenlenen operasyonda yaklaşık 4 ton kokain maddesi ele geçirildi.… pic.twitter.com/gXzWjoSkwx
— T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_icisleri) October 9, 2024
An analysis of the ship’s route, port calls and speed suggested that the cocaine was likely transported from South America aboard “ghost” ships — vessels that do not transmit identifiable Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals — the statement said. Authorities believe these ghost ships transferred the drugs to the Ras while it was in the Atlantic Ocean, either off the coast of Guinea or Mauritania, with the final destination being European countries, it added.
The statement further provided a comprehensive timeline of the Ras’s movements, revealing that the vessel had departed İstanbul on July 28. It made a brief stop in Casablanca, Morocco, August 9-10 before continuing to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where it anchored for 20 days. After leaving Sierra Leone on September 11, the ship headed north, waiting for port entry permission in the waters of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau from September 13 to September 20. Following a short stay in Bissau, the Ras indicated Alexandria, Egypt, as its next port of call, with an estimated arrival date of October 15.
The cargo ship drew attention because it made “a unique voyage” from Turkey to West Africa without loading or unloading goods, and then, after making “erratic maneuvers,” setting course for the Iberian Peninsula, according to a joint statement by police and Spain’s tax office.
The ship was monitored by the Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre-Narcotics, an initiative involving six European Union countries and Britain, in an operation coordinated by Spanish police.
It was intercepted by customs vessels from Spain and France that were patrolling the area.
Spain is a main entry point for drugs into Europe because of its close ties to former colonies in Latin America and its proximity to Morocco, a top cannabis producer.