A joint operation of the National Police and the Tax Agency, through the Customs Surveillance Service, is trying to find out the origin of the semi-submersible vessel that was sighted this Monday in the Arousa estuary.
The ship, similar to the narco-submarines used by drug trafficking networks, is sunk one kilometer off the coast of Vilaxóan, in the Pontevedra municipality of Vilagarcía.
Divers from the special group of underwater activities (GEAS) of the Civil Guard are conducting dives in the area to descend to the sunken wreck, inspect it and obtain as much information as possible to study how to refloat it.
The sub-delegate of the Government in Pontevedra, Maica Larriba, has indicated to the press that “we cannot advance anything until we inspect the submersible” and for the moment “there is no data that points in that direction or in the opposite”, in relation to its connection with drug clans.
It would be a boat of about 15 meters in length “or even something more”, according to Larriba, who has clarified that there have been no arrests and the whereabouts of its crew are unknown.
“The sea conditions are not good but the objective is to proceed to refloat it as quickly as possible. If possible, tomorrow”, Larriba has sentenced.
It was a sailor who, in the middle of the morning, alerted the authorities after spotting the bow of the boat, which was standing in the middle of the Arousa estuary and semi-sunken.
Immediately, the maritime service of the Civil Guard moved to the place and has guarded the boat since then, while agents on foot comb the coast of the area in search of evidence that could be related to the arrival of this boat on the Galician coast.
Aircraft from the Civil Guard and the National Police, as well as Maritime Rescue vessels, also moved to the Ría de Arousa.
The semi-submersible is handmade and everything indicates that it would be linked to drug trafficking and two gliders that appeared stranded on the Ribeira coast last February, according to Europa Press.
Customs Surveillance sources have confirmed that its troops have been able to lower an underwater drone, which has confirmed that it is a semi-submersible, closed (as was the ‘narco-submarine’ located off the coast of Aldán in November 2019).
At the moment the circumstances of the sinking of the boat are unknown, and everything indicates that there are no people inside. However, it will be the researchers who determine if divers can access the semi-submersible and check if it is carrying cargo or crew.
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