The Portuguese and Spanish authorities estimate that 1,300 kg of cocaine seized in the eastern Algarve had a street value of around €80 million if it had reached northern Europe.
Arrests took place as a result of a joint investigation by the Spanish and Portuguese police according to a delighted director of the Polícia Judiciária in Faro, Luís Mota Carmo, who said this was one of the largest seizures this year in Portugal, and indeed in Europe.
The seizure of such a large shipment of cocaine and the arrests in the Algarve and Spain were "a blow" to the group of international traffickers, said Mota Carmo.
The Narcotics Brigade of the PJ in Faro intercepted three Spanish nationals. Cocaine was found in suitcases in their vehicle and later at a warehouse.
In a press conference, the head man of the Múrcia police Cirilo Durán explained that the authorities had coordinated actions and that six arrests were made simultaneously.
Durán said that in Spain three men and a woman, all Spanish and two Moroccan men living in the Netherlands had been arrested.
The group had bases in Huelva and Seville and had been under surveillance for the past year.
The Spanish police at first thought the traffickers were shipping bales of hashish and were surprised to seize cocaine, especailly in such a quantity.
Those arrested are aged between 29 and 50 years and have been detained after a quick visit to court, pending prosecution.
The head of the Southern Polícia Judiciária said that the detainees will be tried "in accordance with Eurojust and the Schengen Treaty meaning they can be tried in the either of the two jurisdictions, Portugal or Spain."
