{
  "id": 9159229,
  "title": "Five arrested after Spanish customs seize 2.1 tonnes of cocaine from yacht in Atlantic",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/five-arrested-after-spanish-customs-seize-2-1-tonnes-of-cocaine-from",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-22T16:13:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Spain in English",
    "slug": "spain-in-english",
    "url": "https://www.spainenglish.com/2026/09/22/five-arrested-after-spanish-customs-seize-2-1-tonnes-of-cocaine-from-yacht-in-atlantic/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Five individuals have been arrested as part of Operation Doncella, a joint investigation involving Spain’s Customs Surveillance Service and French customs authorities. The operation, which began in February, led to the seizure of a yacht carrying approximately 2.1 tonnes of cocaine in the Atlantic Ocean. Four crew members, nationals of Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Albania, were apprehended aboard the vessel, while a fifth suspect, a suspected leader of the logistics network, was arrested in Girona. In addition, a Chilean national based in Girona and a Spanish national from Barcelona, both accused of facilitating the acquisition and protection of drug trafficking vessels, have also been taken into custody. The intercepted yacht, a 14-metre Polish-flagged sailing boat, was discovered approximately 400 miles off the coast of Galicia, with 70 bales of cocaine distributed across the vessel. The operation, which involved international cooperation including the UK’s National Crime Agency and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, is part of Spain’s ongoing efforts to combat the so-called ‘Atlantic cocaine route’, a method used by criminal organisations to transport and distribute large quantities of cocaine across the Atlantic Ocean prior to its introduction into European markets.",
  "summary": "Spanish customs officers have dismantled a criminal network suspected of supplying sailing boats for major maritime drug shipments after intercepting a yacht carrying around 2.1 tonnes of cocaine in the Atlantic. Five people have been arrested so far in Operation Doncella, a joint investigation involving Spain’s Customs Surveillance Service and... The post Five arrested after Spanish customs…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}