Spanish Operation “White Tide” Makes Largest Cocaine Seizure at Sea
Spain’s National Police are reporting its largest ever cocaine seizure at sea, completed last week near the Canary Islands. While calling it a historic blow to maritime cocaine trafficking, they are reporting that the seizure faced complications as the target vessel ran out of fuel.
An international operation led by Spain, with assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Portugal, continued the efforts to target and disrupt cocaine smuggling. The Spanish dubbed the effort “Operation White Tide,” and reported that a small cargo ship coming from Brazil was its latest target.
The ship bearing the name United S and with no clear registry or flag, was targeted as it approached the Canary Islands. It was apprehended more than 300 miles out to sea by a collaboration between Spain’s Navy and the Special Operations Group.
According to the Spanish authorities, once the vessel was boarded and being searched, the cargo ship ran out of fuel. It was left drifting in the ocean for approximately 12 hours until Spain’s SASEMAR could reach the ship for a rescue operation. They towed the ship to the Canary Islands.
A search revealed 294 bales hidden in a cargo of salt. A total of 9,994 kilograms of cocaine was seized along with a firearm, which Spanish authorities said was being used to guard and protect the stash. The 13 crewmembers aboard the ship have been arrested.
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Pictures show a small rusty cargo ship (2,845 dwt), which, according to records, was built in 1975. The same ship was detained for two weeks in Turkey in 2024 with a reported 23 deficiencies identified during a Port State inspection. Equasis reports the ship was previously registered in Togo, Sierra Leone, and Belize. Since September 2025, its flag is reported as unknown.
By comparison to the current seizure, the Spanish authorities said the largest previous cocaine seizure happened in 1999. It said 7,500 kilos were found in the bow of a vessel named Tammsaare. Spain typically captures around 35 tons of cocaine in a year. In October 2025, they captured a small cargo ship transporting 6,500 kilos of cocaine, and before that, in July, they made a seizure of 1,300 tons of cocaine from a containership as a drug cartel appeared to be attempting to also grab the stash. Spanish authorities seized 13 tons of cocaine at the Port of Algeciras in November 2024, calling it the largest drug seizure in the country’s history.
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