The vessel was boarded by the Special Operations ship ‘Petrel I’ following a coordinated operation involving Spanish, French, and Portuguese authorities, as well as intelligence services from the United Kingdom and the United States.
The operation began under the bilateral ‘Pascal-Lino’ initiative between Spain and France and continued as part of ‘Azul’, led by Portugal. Both efforts aim to enhance surveillance in the Macaronesian maritime region.
After receiving intelligence, the ‘Petrel I’ tracked the suspicious sailboat for several days approximately 400 miles south of the Canary Islands. Adverse weather conditions, including summer fog and unstable seas, complicated the tracking and boarding, preventing aerial support.
The boarding, described as extremely dangerous for the officials, was carried out with support from the French vessel ‘Jean Francois Deniau’. International cooperation was crucial in obtaining the necessary intelligence, channeled through the Maritime Analysis Centre against Drug Trafficking in the Atlantic (MAOC-N) and coordinated nationally by the Center for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime (Citco).
