Portuguese authorities said on Monday that they had seized a record haul of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft intercepted off the Azores archipelago.
The nearly nine tonnes of the drug is “the biggest seizure of cocaine ever in Portugal,” a police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.
At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, the director of the National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking (UNCTE), Artur Vaz, said that bales of cocaine had been recovered “in an overall quantity that we estimate at approximately nine tonnes.”
Vaz said that the drugs being transported on the vessel could bring in “hundreds of millions of euros” for “highly organised crime” groups.
Officers said they intercepted the craft “in recent days” some 230 nautical miles (426 kilometres) from the islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
They were assisted by the navy and air force, as well as the UK and US authorities, in difficult weather conditions.
The submersible eventually sank with 35 of the 300 packages of drugs it was carrying, police said.
It originated in Latin America and had three Colombians and a Venezuelan on board, it added.
Authorities report more drug seizures
In October last year, Portuguese police seized around six tonnes of hashish in the Seixal region, at the time the biggest drug seizure in the force’s history.
The six tonnes of hashish belonged to a sophisticated and dangerous network that trafficked to the Portuguese market and to other European countries. The operation also saw the seizure of €580,000 in cash, 10 vehicles, 21 mobile phones, two satellite phones, two machine guns, five pistols, a shotgun and a revolver.
In March 2025, the Polícia Judiciária also seized a submarine built for drug trafficking that had set sail from Brazil.
The seizure of drugs, especially cocaine, appears to be on the increase off the Portuguese coast. Last year, more than 23 tonnes were seized, the highest figure since 2006.
Euronews asked the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) to clarify whether drug trafficking is on the rise or if more operations have been reported. However, the PJ referred to press releases.
Additional sources • AFP