High-Speed Chase on Spanish River Ends in Death, 121 Bales of Moroccan Hashish Seized

The Civil Guard detected the presence of eight drug boats from Morocco on the Guadalquivir River and deployed agents from the Cadiz command, the Rural Action Group (GAR), the Maritime Service of Cadiz and Huelva as well as a helicopter to intercept them, details the Cadiz Civil Guard command to El País. One of the boats managed to reach the shore and its occupants began unloading the drugs. But after the landing of the Civil Guard helicopter, they boarded another boat, abandoning their boat which contained 47 bales of hashish.

Guardia civil boats, assisted by another from the Customs Surveillance Service, set off in pursuit. After a few minutes of chase, the drug boat, which was "at maximum speed", crashed into one of the riverbanks, in an area near the Brazo de la Torre site, the Civil Guard reports, adding that this violent accident caused the boat to capsize and the occupants and drug packages they were carrying to be ejected. One of the occupants died on the spot. The four other injured, more or less seriously, were taken to the hospital by the Civil Guard.

In total, 121 bales of hashish were seized during this operation. The judicial police of the Civil Guard of Cadiz have opened an investigation to determine the causes of the accident. For the moment, the identity of the deceased has not been revealed. This is not the first time that such incidents have occurred. On January 31, a similar chase had resulted in the death of a suspected trafficker after a collision with a Civil Guard boat. On June 8, another suspected trafficker died and another was injured in a chase. But the most serious incident occurred on February 8, when two civil guards lost their lives in a violent collision with a drug boat in the port of Barbate.