The crew of a reefer vessel have been arrested by Danish police for their part in a bid to smuggle 100 kg of cocaine worth $50m into the country.
Copenhagen police said in a statement Sunday that the drugs were seized during an “internationally coordinated” raid on Saturday on the 628,000-cbf Duncan Island (built 1993).
The police said the cocaine had been offloaded from the ship in the Langeland belt off the east coast of Langeland into a smaller boat.
It was then transported to Spodsbjerg on Langeland where the intention was for it to be transported to Copenhagen and other parts of Scandinavia, police said.
The police said that while the small boat with three men aboard sailed ashore with the cocaine, the freighter sailed on.
In Danish waters south of Gedser, it was boarded by police from the Copenhagen Police and the 24 crew members on board were arrested.
"It was a major police operation that can only be carried out due to good cooperation with our Danish and international police colleagues," said Inspector Dannie Rise, head of the center for special investigations at the Copenhagen Police.
"These are professional drug traffickers we have arrested, and at the same time we have prevented a large batch of drugs from hitting the Danish market. It is not too much to say that it has been a good day today.
“Now we are investigating further to find out who is now waiting in vain for the deliveries. An amount of cocaine of this size is worth millions.”
The three men who received the cocaine and were arrested in Spodsbjerg are a 50-year-old man from Russia and two people from Latvia aged 41 and 44 years.
The 24 arrested crew members comprise 13 people from the Philippines, five from Russia, three from Latvia, two from Ecuador and one each from India, Poland and the Ukraine.
