Portuguese authorities seized 3,700 kilograms of cocaine from a high-speed vessel that they stopped roughly 80 nautical miles south of Faro on Sunday, October 11, in a multi-national operation that also resulted in the death of one of the suspects involved.
The individual, who was one of three suspects, died of injuries he suffered as a result of a collision during the pursuit.
The Portuguese Navy said the vessel's crew ignored an order to stop. During the ensuing chase, the suspected smuggling craft made evasive manoeuvres and collided with a vessel operated by the authorities.
One crewmember was found seriously injured following the interception. He was moved to another vessel for first aid and then handed over to a Spanish search and rescue team, which confirmed his death.
The navy identified the suspects as one British and two Spanish nationals. The deceased suspect was confirmed to be a Spanish national.
The two surviving suspects were arrested and were due to appear before a judge at Lisbon's Justice Campus.
João Oliveira, Lisbon director of the Portuguese Judicial Police, said three military personnel fell into the sea during the operation but that no other injuries were reported.
Oliveira said the cocaine came from Latin America and was "most likely" bound for Portugal.
"We are dealing with yet another international criminal structure whose main objective is to bring large quantities of cocaine into Europe using this modus operandi, which has been widely used in recent times," Oliveira said, referring to the speedboats known as narcolanchas.
The six-month investigation, named Operation Mare Nostrum, was coordinated by the Judicial Police's National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking. It also involved the Portuguese Navy, the Maritime Police, the Portuguese Air Force, Italy's Guardia di Finanza (GdF) financial police, and Spain's Guardia Civil police, under the framework of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics.
In July, the GdF intercepted a small boat carrying more than 2.6 tonnes of cocaine in the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal in a separate operation.