Costa del Sol drug gangs throw dozens of canisters of petrol into the sea after a high speed chase near Marbella

After dumping dozens of petrol cans in the Mediterranean Sea, desperate narcos ended up with three arrests.

On September 19, Guardia Civil officers saw a speedboat racing at full-throttle towards the coast nine miles away.

Officers immediately suspected the vessel was a narco-boat – one of the high-powered craft regularly used by drug trafficking gangs to transport contraband along the Costa del Sol.

When patrol officers of the Provincial Maritime Service intervened to intercept the semi-rigid ship less than a kilometer from the coastline, it was carrying 192 gasoline containers.

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The narcos revved their engines as soon as they saw the Guardia Civil coming. They tried to flee in a hurry.

The three passengers began throwing fuel cans overboard while zigzagging through the water to try and outrun the patrol vessel.

The sea filled up quickly with floating plastic containers, posing a serious environmental threat in the clean Mediterranean waters that attract millions of tourists each year to the Costa del Sol.

Despite all their efforts, Guardia Civil was able to intercept the fleeing vessel. They also discovered the true scale of the operation.

Officers recovered 136 containers still on board the boat plus another 56 floating in the water – a total of 3,500 litres of petrol that could have caused serious marine pollution.

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All three crew were arrested and charged for possessing flammable substances.

The incident highlights ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking networks who use the Costa del Sol coast and its busy marinas as a route for smuggling drugs into Europe.

Investigators continue their investigation to determine whether the fuel shipment was linked to larger narcotrafficking operations.

Teams of environmental experts are assessing any possible damage that could be caused by fuel containers dumped into waters frequented by swimmers, sailors and marine wildlife along the Marbella coastline.

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