Six held after 9,000 litres of fuel seized at sea

Six people, including a minor, have been detained after Vigilancia Aduanera officers seized more than 9,000 litres of fuel in two interceptions in the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Agencia Tributaria said both operations were part of the fight against smuggling and were carried out by patrol vessels based at its maritime unit in Algeciras.

Officers first acted in the early hours of 27 October, when the patrol boat Audaz II approached a small craft carrying 122 fuel containers and three people on board.

The fuel was seized and the three crew members were arrested.

A second interception came on the night of 1 November, when the patrol vessel Fénix V stopped another small boat with three people aboard and 329 containers of fuel. Officers towed it to port because the load was considered heavy enough to make the vessel unstable.

In total, officers counted 451 fuel containers across the two operations.

The six detainees were later taken before the duty court in Barbate. Five were remanded in custody, while the sixth was identified as a minor.

Fuel linked to narco logistics

The seizures were linked to an earlier CNS report on a wider fuel supply network targeting boats used in drug trafficking, showing how closely the supply chain for coastal smuggling continues to be monitored in the area.

Spanish authorities have repeatedly warned that the transport and storage of large quantities of petrol in small boats poses a serious fire and explosion risk as well as helping organised crime groups to keep their vessels at sea.

The Strait remains one of the main routes used by crews moving fuel and other logistics to fast boats operating between southern Spain and North Africa.