Spanish police comb seized freighter for drugs haul

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish police are continuing a deck-by-deck search for five tons of cocaine believed to be hidden on board a freighter seized off the Canary Islands.

About 80 officers are working their way through a cargo of tar and steel coils for what is thought to be one of Europe's biggest haul of drugs.

The 120-metre vessel 'Privilege' was stopped and boarded 200 nautical miles southwest of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, three days ago as part of an international crackdown on the South American drug trade.

Gonzalo Robles, the head of Spain's National Plan for Drugs said: "If the information from the police is confirmed, we will be talking about an important amount, probably more than five tons of cocaine."

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But so far, nothing has been found.

"We're not ruling out any possibility," said the government spokesman in the port of Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria, on Sunday.

"It's starting to look a bit strange that nothing has been found up to now."

The ship was stopped en route for Italy from Venezuela and taken to Las Palmas where the 20-strong crew has been detained.

The spokesman said the search was likely to take some time because of the size of the ship and the volume of its cargo.

The crew -- 18 Philippine nationals, one Mexican and the boat's Panamanian captain -- are being questioned by police.

The raid was part of "Operation Orinoco," the latest multi-national crackdown on the South American drug trade.

The operation, which was launched earlier this year, involves police forces in Venezuela, Colombia, the United States, Italy, Panama, France, Greece and Spain.

Last month, police in Venezuela seized about 10 tons of cocaine, worth $800 million, in three drug busts as part of the operation.

Venezuela has become a major smuggling route for cocaine from Colombia, the world's biggest producer of the drug, to markets in the U.S. and Europe.

Spain is one of the main points of entry into Europe for cocaine from South America as well as cannabis from North Africa.

Last year, Spanish police and coastguards seized 7.6 tons of cocaine on a ship bound for the Canary Islands from Panama.

A further 5.2 tons were found on the Spanish mainland in what at the time was Europe's biggest ever drug bust.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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