Portuguese authorities on Monday said they had seized a record haul of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft intercepted off the Azores archipelago.
The nearly nine tonnes of the drug is “the biggest seizure of cocaine ever in Portugal”, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
Officers said they intercepted the craft “in recent days” some 230 nautical miles (265 miles, 426 kilometres) from the islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
They were assisted by the navy and air force, as well as the UK and US authorities, in difficult weather conditions.
The submersible eventually sank with 35 of the 300 packages of drugs it was carrying, the police said.
It originated in Latin America and had three Colombians and a Venezuelan on board, it added.
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