Caption: This undated handout photo released on January 12, 2026 by Spanish National Police shows Spanish police posing in front of some of the nearly 10 tons of cocaine seized on a cargo ship that was sailing across the Atlantic between Brazil and Spain, at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands

MADRID – Spanish police announced on Monday their largest-ever seizure of cocaine at sea after impounding a Europe-bound container ship in the Atlantic Ocean carrying almost 10 tonnes of the drug.

Officers last week raided the Cameroon-flagged vessel which had left Brazil, seizing 9,994 kilogrammes (22,033 pounds) of cocaine concealed in 294 packages in a shipment of salt, police said in a statement.

They arrested the 13 crew members and seized a firearm used to protect the stash in an operation involving US, Brazilian, UK, French and Portuguese authorities, the statement added.

Spain’s close ties with Latin America and proximity to Morocco, a top cannabis producer, make it a key entry point for drugs into Europe.

In 2024, Spanish police impounded 13 tonnes of cocaine from a container ship that had arrived at the southern port of Algeciras from Ecuador, the country’s largest-ever haul of the drug. (AFP)