The customs surveillance vessel capsized and the four alleged traffickers, who are in custody, set their sailboat on fire to sink it
A 58-year-old civil servant Customs Surveillance Service died today in an accident during a boarding attempt to inspect a sailboat, presumably loaded with drugs, in Atlantic waters, the Tax Agency has reported. The incident occurred around 8:30 a.m. this Saturday when this sailboat was going to be inspected at western Canary Islands.
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Sources from the Tax Agency tell Agencia EFE that an auxiliary vessel from the Special Operations Ship ‘Fulmar’ of the Tax Agency “had come ashore some 700 miles west of the Canary Islands to a sailboat that was suspected of being able to transport narcotics, to proceed with its inspection. At that time, there was a dinghy capsize of the Customs Surveillance Service, which caused the officials fall into the seas, at which time the crew of the sailboat set fire to the suspect ship for its subsequent sinking.
After several attempts to revive his companion, the officials of the auxiliary boat informed the central services of the customs service of the death of the agent. The ship ‘Fulmar’ is currently heading with the body of the deceased official and the four crew members of the sailboat detained at the port of Melilla, where the official’s family residence is located. The arrival in Melilla is expected for next Wednesday night, the same sources clarify.