Barrons reports that Spanish police seized more than 30 tonnes of hashish, worth an estimated 63 million euros, stashed onboard four sailboats in what is described as its biggest-ever bust of such drugs at sea.

The four boats were intercepted in the Atlantic as part of a four-day operation which resulted in the arrest of nine people of Bulgarian and Russian origin, a police statement said.

Two of them, both “luxury vessels”, were stopped off the coast of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, while a third was seized near the Strait of Gibraltar and the fourth off the coast of Mauritania, south of Morocco.

Sailing under British, German, and Dutch flags, the vessels belonged to what police said was “the biggest criminal organization dedicated to trafficking hashish by sea”.

Since the beginning of the year, Spanish police have seized nearly 35 tonnes of hashish belonging to this organization, which is run by Bulgarian nationals, along with six of their sailing boats, valued at some 5.0 million euros.

Spanish security forces staged the operation after coordination with police in Britain, the Netherlands, Greece and Italy, and the help of Europol, the European policing agency.