In early August 2025, Spanish law enforcement conducted a major operation in the Atlantic Ocean, during which the tugboat Sky White, sailing under the Cameroonian flag, was detained. The vessel had been wanted by authorities in several countries and was considered a key link in an international cocaine smuggling network from South America to Europe.
Sky White had long eluded the police, despite numerous attempts to locate it. According to investigators, this tugboat regularly crossed the Atlantic, picking up large shipments of drugs in the Caribbean and South America, and then delivering them to European shores. The operation to intercept the vessel took place 900 nautical miles west of the Canary Islands. On board, authorities found 80 bales of cocaine weighing a total of about three tons.
There were five crew members on board: four Bangladeshi nationals and one from Venezuela, who, according to investigators, was responsible for the cargo. All were detained on suspicion of organizing a major drug trafficking route.
The tugboat Sky White, 22 meters long, was in poor condition and did not meet safety standards. Despite this, the vessel had repeatedly appeared in investigations conducted by anti-narcotics agencies from various countries. The French anti-smuggling service DNRED included it in a joint investigation with Moroccan authorities, suspecting that the ship was used for regular transatlantic trips to transport drugs to Europe. Investigators specifically focused on the port of Dakhla in Western Sahara, where Sky White allegedly made stops before heading out to sea.
At the same time, the Spanish Civil Guard and the Customs Surveillance Service carried out their own investigation, considering Sky White as a so-called ‘mother ship.’ Its mission was to deliver large shipments of cocaine to the open sea, where the cargo would be transferred to high-speed inflatable boats — known as narcolanchas — which then transported the drugs to the Spanish coast. The operation also involved the UK’s National Crime Agency, Portugal’s Judicial Police, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
After the vessel was located, a Spanish Navy ship carrying Civil Guard special forces was sent to the scene, where they stormed and secured the tug. Sky White was towed to the port of Tenerife, where law enforcement officers seized all the drugs found on board.
Experts note that the arrest of Sky White confirms the activity of the so-called Atlantic route, through which cocaine from South America and the Caribbean reaches Europe. Various types of vessels are used for transport — from fishing and commercial ships to tugs like Sky White. On the open sea, the drugs are transferred onto small high-speed boats, making interception more difficult.
The operation was the result of close international cooperation and further demonstrated that Spain remains one of the key frontlines in the fight against transnational drug trafficking.
