On Friday, May 1st, a public holiday, Spain’s Civil Guard launched a complex operation to board a merchant ship that, according to intelligence reports, was suspected of carrying a massive shipment of cocaine in its holds. That afternoon, eight Civil Guard officers in dark uniforms, helmets and bulletproof vests disembarked from the Civil Guard vessel Duque de Ahumada and boarded a motorboat that took them to the suspicious ship. It was an hour-long journey during which the waves tossed the boat around, as captured on video by another vessel that participated in the operation. Finally, they positioned themselves alongside the Arconian. The cargo ship, with its hull painted green and red and about the length of a football field, was sailing off the coast of Dakhla in Western Sahara, around 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) south of the Canary Islands.

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