The Spanish authorities have identified three tons of cocaine worth 180 million euros on a Greek-managed cargo ship off the Canary Islands. “Blossom” The 4,300 DWT vessel (built in 2005) was intercepted 193 nautical miles off the port of Santa Cruz on Tuesday, according to international maritime press reports. In the international shipping database, Equasis Blume is listed as the owner of Rentoor Chartering and operator of the Greek Dignatio Corp, the only ship listed. On board no Greek sailors, according to the Ministry of Shipping. For the same reason, according to sources in the ministry, there is no relevant information from the Spanish authorities.

AIS is closed

The Togo-flagged vessel was reportedly sailing with its AIS tracking system disabled, which last transmitted a signal on 17 January. “Blum” sailed from the port of Santos, Brazil, on 20 December. His destination was Riga in Latvia. On Thursday, the Spanish customs authorities seized a cargo ship and delivered it to Tenerife.

A Togo-flagged Blume truck was spotted by Spanish authorities near the Canary Islands.

This was reportedly followed by a massive security operation by military and civilian authorities, including police divers, that lasted more than five hours at the Los Llanos dock. Then, in the evening, loads of cocaine were unloaded by crane. The cost of drugs is estimated at 180 million euros. Official information does not yet say what happened to the crew, but some reports in Spain claim that they have all been arrested.

He has… a history

The small truck has a mixed history: last year it was stopped at least twice by the port authorities for a number of violations. The first time was in Turkey, where 45 violations were found, according to Equasis, including a missing flag registration certificate, expired firefighting equipment, and errors in oil filtration equipment. Blum was then detained in Russia in July with 25 violations, including lifeboats.