Spanish authorities seized four tonnes of cocaine from a fishing boat off the Canary Islands and arrested its 15 crew, officials said Friday, the latest such operation in the region.

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The Panamanian-flagged ship was intercepted on Tuesday some 500 nautical miles west of the Atlantic archipelago off northwest Africa, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Spanish police found around 100 bales of cocaine containing around 40 kilos of the drug each, for a total of around four tonnes, it added. All 15 people on board were arrested.

The authorities were acting on a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Administration that a criminal organisation was preparing to transfer “a large quantity of cocaine between two vessels on the high seas”.

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Spanish police were already monitoring the boat because Panamanian authorities had already removed its fishing licence for undisclosed “serious offences”.

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Spain is a main entry point for drugs into Europe because of its close ties with former colonies in Latin America and its proximity to Morocco, a top cannabis producer.

Last month Spanish police made their largest-ever haul of cocaine, seizing 13 tonnes of the drug in the southern port of Algeciras.

Police in October seized four tonnes of cocaine from a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship off the Canaries and arrested its 10 crew, while in February another four tonnes of the drug were found on a speedboat off the archipelago.

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