Four-tonne cocaine haul caps Portugal’s record crackdown – Portugal Resident

Portugal’s fight against international cocaine trafficking has intensified dramatically, with authorities seizing more than eight tonnes of cocaine in the past six weeks, culminating in the discovery of at least four tonnes aboard a Hong Kong-flagged container ship intercepted off the Portuguese coast.

The vessel, which had sailed from Panama, was intercepted at sea by the Judicial Police (PJ) before being escorted to the Port of Sines, where investigators have been carrying out extensive searches. According to Portuguese media, the ship’s 265-metre length has complicated the operation, which was still ongoing on Wednesday.

The latest seizure is believed to be one of the largest ever made in Portugal and pushes the country’s cocaine haul for 2026 to at least 28 tonnes, already exceeding last year’s record with almost five months of the year still remaining.

It also crowns a remarkable series of anti-drug operations that have exposed the increasingly sophisticated methods used by international trafficking organisations.

The PJ last week released dramatic footage of Operation Coragem (see below), showing Maritime Police forensic divers recovering 197 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the sea chest of another Hong Kong-flagged container ship that had arrived in Sines.

The cocaine had been concealed in waterproof packages beneath the vessel’s waterline, allowing it to cross the Atlantic without the crew’s knowledge. Authorities say criminal organisations increasingly favour the technique because divers can retrieve the drugs after the ship reaches a European port, reducing the risk of detection during customs inspections.

Only days later, the Maritime Police announced the seizure of more than two tonnes of cocaine off the Alentejo coast after bales of drugs began washing ashore south of the Tróia Peninsula. The operation, involving the Maritime Police, Portuguese Navy and Judiciary Police, recovered the cocaine along with fuel containers and other logistical equipment abandoned by traffickers before they could be recovered.

The recent crackdown has extended beyond drug seizures themselves. On Tuesday, the Maritime Police seized a high-speed boat believed to have been used by international drug trafficking networks after it was found being transported inside a lorry trailer at a slipway on the River Minho in Lanhelas, Caminha.

The vessel, described as having characteristics commonly associated with narcotics logistics operations, was discovered after an early morning alert prompted a joint response involving the Maritime Police, PJ, GNR and firefighters. Officers found the articulated lorry, trailer and speedboat partially submerged on the slipway before seizing all three. Although no drugs were found, investigators believe the craft formed part of the logistical infrastructure used to support maritime cocaine smuggling.

The string of operations follows the PJ’s announcement on July 25 that it had dismantled an international criminal organisation specialising in introducing cocaine into Europe by sea.

The Atlantic “Cocaine Highway”

The latest seizures build on Operation Azul 2.0, launched in June to dismantle an international trafficking network operating along what investigators describe as the Atlantic “Cocaine Highway” – a maritime route running between Latin America, the Canary Islands and the Portuguese archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores before drugs are moved into mainland Europe.

The multinational investigation, coordinated by the PJ with support from MAOC-N, Europol, Frontex and police forces from Spain, France, the UK and the United States, led to the seizure of 465kg of cocaine, 42kg of hashish, two high-speed boats, another vessel and 800 litres of fuel. Three suspects were arrested and six vessels inspected.

According to investigators, trafficking organisations increasingly rely on a layered logistics network. Large “mother ships” transport cocaine across the Atlantic before transferring it at sea to powerful speedboats, which in turn supply smaller craft that land the drugs on isolated stretches of coastline. The system reduces the risk of detection at each stage and has made Portugal’s Atlantic coast an increasingly attractive gateway into Europe.

According to the PJ, the operation dealt a significant blow to the criminal networks operating along this Atlantic route, while intelligence gathered is expected to support further investigations into the organisations behind the transatlantic cocaine trade.

Together, the operations illustrate the growing importance of Portugal’s Atlantic coastline and commercial ports in global cocaine trafficking routes. Authorities have warned that organised crime groups are constantly adapting their methods, using everything from concealed ship compartments and commercial cargo to offshore transfers and specialised high-speed vessels in an effort to evade detection.

Investigations into the latest Sines seizure are continuing, with authorities expecting the final quantity of cocaine recovered from the container ship to rise as searches of the vessel are completed.