Greece arrests three linked to cocaine haul on ship seized by Spain in 2023

Greece has arrested three people linked with a cargo ship seized by Spanish authorities off the Canary Islands in 2023 for carrying more than 4.5 tonnes of cocaine from Latin America to Europe, three people close to the investigation said on Thursday.

The then Greek-operated, Togo-flagged vessel Blume, which had left from Brazil, had declared a 200-tonne cargo of coffee, far below its actual capacity, raising suspicion.

On January 18, 2023, Spanish authorities raided the ship, confiscated the drugs worth hundreds of millions of dollars, arrested its entire crew and took the vessel to the port of Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife.

The three people detained this week by the Greek Coast Guard, following an investigation with the anti-money laundering unit, are believed to be linked to the vessel's Greece-based operator, Dignatio, two officials from both units told Reuters.

The suspects, who have initially denied wrongdoing, will appear before a prosecutor to respond to the charges in the coming days, according to a third source.

Dignatio could not be reached for comment.

In 2023, six days after the interception of Blume, Spanish authorities seized a second Togo-flagged vessel, the cattle ship Orion V, off the Canary Islands, for transporting a similar amount of cocaine. The investigation was assisted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Togo police.

(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis, writing by Renee Maltezou Editing by Tomasz Janowski)