Five arrested in cocaine bust off Spain's Canary Islands

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Five people were arrested when a fishing boat carrying nearly three tonnes of cocaine was intercepted off the Canary Islands, Spanish police said.

The AKT 1 was stopped on April 13 by a Spanish coastguard patrol about 300 nautical miles south of the Spanish archipelago as it tried to pass itself off as another fishing boat.

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Spanish police seized 2.9 tonnes of cocaine, estimated to have a street value of 72 million euros ($77.80 million), which had been hidden in one of the fuel tanks.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a statement at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

The boat was returned to Gran Canaria on Saturday and the five detainees were remanded in custody in Las Palmas.

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"When we boarded, (officers) observed the fishing boat was transporting a significant number of bundles usually used for cocaine trafficking, so the five crew members of the boat - four of Turkish nationality and a Georgian citizen - were immediately arrested," a spokesman for the Spanish Civil Guard said.

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($1 = 0.9254 euros)