Detectives and anti-drug prosecutors investigating a multinational criminal group alleged to be exporting enormous quantities of cocaine from South America to Europe had identified a suspect ship that had set off from Brazil, the Policia Nacional said in a statement on Monday. Last week, officers from the force's elite special group of operations boarded the vessel as it lay 332 miles (535km) off the Canary Islands, and seized almost 300 bales of cocaine that had been buried in a shipment of salt.
A British cruise company has said it is working with authorities after a passenger on one of its ships was seen entering the water in the seas around the Canary Islands. Marella Cruises, which is operated by TUI UK, said the guest went overboard as the vessel was heading towards La Gomera, the second-smallest of the main islands in the Spanish archipelago off the coast of north-west Africa.