Ten alleged drug traffickers have been arrested by the Civil Guard and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency as suspected perpetrators of the shooting attack suffered by a patrol boat of the Provincial Maritime Service of Huelva during the early hours of August 17 to 18. In the shooting, a drug trafficker was injured, who was abandoned on the coast of Cádiz by his companions.
The attack on the patrol boat occurred just one day after two hooded men shot dead two women and a minor in the town of Isla Cristina in Huelva province in what is being investigated as a possible settling of scores, related to family feuds between clans linked to drug trafficking. The escalation of drug-related violence is taking place on the coasts of Huelva, these days full of tourists, and amid the lack of resources for the agents, denounced these days by professional associations such as the AUGC.
In the early hours of August 17 to 18, a Civil Guard patrol boat began pursuing a semi-rigid boat suspected of participating in drug trafficking activities off the coast of Huelva. During the chase, the occupants of the drug boat performed numerous “evasive and extremely dangerous maneuvers, seriously endangering the lives of the agents,” the Civil Guard reported this Saturday.
In addition to the ten arrests, the agents seized two drug boats and 5,926 kilograms of hashish, “dealing a significant blow to one of the criminal organizations operating in the south of the Peninsula,” the Civil Guard assessed.
During the chase off the coast of Huelva, the drug traffickers threw part of the cargo they were carrying into the sea, aiming to hinder the navigation of the Civil Guard patrol boats and “try to cause damage” to them. The situation worsened when the occupants of the drug boat opened fire on the agents.
In response to the attack, the Civil Guards fired several shots to repel the aggression and contain the danger. Finally, the boat managed to escape due to a malfunction of the patrol boat caused during the pursuit.
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The severity of the attack led the agents to deploy a specific operation aimed at locating the boat, arresting its crew, and recovering any illegal cargo, as well as identifying possible support boats that might come to its aid.
After locating the boat involved in the shooting at a new location on the morning of August 20, the Civil Guards carried out a “coordinated assault” on it and on a second drug boat that was providing support offshore.
The raid ended with the interception of both boats, the seizure of 5,926 kilos of hashish, and the arrest of nine crew members. At the same time, the agents located and arrested a tenth member of the organization, who had been shot during the clashes with the Civil Guard and was abandoned by his own companions on the coast of Cádiz.
The injured man was later taken to a hospital in Puerto Real. The investigation remains open with the aim of fully clarifying the participation of the detainees in the attack on the agents and determining the responsibilities of each member of the criminal organization.
The operation was carried out by the Provincial Maritime Service of Huelva, Special Intervention Unit (UEI), Organic Judicial Police Unit (UOPJ) of Huelva, the Regional Center for Analysis and Intelligence against Drug Trafficking (CRAIN), and the Customs Surveillance Service (DAVA), and was directed by the Central Court of the National Court on duty.
