Burning yacht set ablaze by drug smugglers off Tenerife.
Share and Follow

THIS is the dramatic moment drug smugglers set their own yacht alight to destroy their gargantuan cocaine haul.

Moments before, the two men had been chased by a police boat just off the coast of holiday hotspot Tenerife.

Burning yacht set ablaze by drug smugglers off Tenerife.

Drug smugglers set their own yacht alight
Drug smugglers setting fire to their yacht to destroy cocaine.

Footage shows one of the men working desperately to set fire to the drug stash
Drug smugglers setting fire to their yacht to destroy cocaine.

Cops sprayed the boat to put out the flames

Unbelievable footage shows the tense boat chase, with multiple cop yachts surrounding the drug vessel.

Once the smugglers realised there was no escape it seems, they deliberately set the boat on fire.

The panicked smugglers are seen trying to start a blaze – and are eventually successful.

The pair risk their lives on the choppy sea as the boat quickly becomes engulfed in flames.

The blaze not only put themselves in danger but surrounding cops too, as the vessel could have exploded at any time.

Cops were captured in the footage desperately trying to put the fire out with strong hosepipes.

The drug smugglers, one of French nationality and the other Dutch, jumped into the sea.

One of them was said to be very seriously injured.

The sailing boat was intercepted by the police about 50 miles from the Canary Islands.

The boat eventually sank, taking most of the drugs down with it, but the crew of the police patrol boat “Sacre” managed to recover 25kg of cocaine.

Moment panicked captain of MV Matthew drug ship orders crew to burn drugs while Irish warship in ‘hot pursuit’

The operation was part of the plan to intensify the investigation, surveillance and control of the cocaine smuggling in the Canary Islands.

A tip-off was received about a boat close to the holiday island, and was said to contain a significant amount of narcotic substance on board.

The plan was to transfer the haul to another boat, a semi-rigid type, which would be take the drugs to the Spanish coast.

A police spokesman said: “The maritime operation was highly risky for Custom’s patrol officers due to the rough seas and the fire intentionally set by the vessel’s crew to destroy the cocaine and the sailboat.

“The swift action of Customs Surveillance Service officers allowed them to initially extinguish the fire and complete the boarding of the vessel.

“They also recovered part of the cargo before the fire reignited, ultimately destroying most of the haul of cocaine and the vessel transporting it, a sloop named Lona.”

The two crew members of the sailboat have been arrested.

The man who was seriously injured in the fire was transported, presumably to hospital, via chopper by Maritime Rescue.

The two Customs Surveillance Service vessels, along with the detainees and the recovered drugs, were brought into Tenerife’s capital of Santa Cruz.

The operation was carried out by the Civil Guard, National Police and Customs Surveillance  in association with the British and American authorities.

Burned yacht with cocaine seized by police.

Only part of the boat was decimated
Drug smugglers in handcuffs escorted by police.

The two men were arrested
Drug smugglers setting fire to their yacht off Tenerife.

Cops had been chasing the yacht
Share and Follow
You May Also Like

Rebuilding California: Connecting Policy and Culture for Positive Change

Some say we have to “win the culture” before policy can change.…

Who is Julian Brown? Inventor behind viral Plastoline project

JULIAN Brown is an inventor and influencer who rose to prominence for…

Major airlines pause flights and divert planes after massive earthquake off Russia sparked tsunami threat for US

PASSENGER planes that left for Hawaii are being diverted mid-air while scores…

New Media Nominations: CBS Faces PTSD, NYT Battles TDS, Stelter Deals with OCD, and Cat Anxiety Disorder Highlighted

Regularly, we compile some of the most fractured examples of journalism, nominating…

Kremlin issues biggest insult to Trump yet comparing him to Biden and says impending peace deadline is step towards WAR

ONE of Vladimir Putin’s top lackeys has blasted Donald Trump’s Ukraine ceasefire…

Manhattan victim’s bone-chilling plea after being shot by gunman Shane Tamura in sick rampage that felt ‘like war zone’

A WITNESS has described the moment she saw a bloodied victim sprint…

Haunting moment TikToker records her own death after she screams at gun-toting pal ‘shoot me twice in the head’

THIS is the haunting moment a TikToker recorded her own death after…

Trump should keep the ‘zero-to-zero’ tariff policy on pharmaceuticals 

President Trump has reached a trade agreement with the European Union, imposing…