Portuguese law enforcement officials on Monday announced they seized a narco-submarine off the Azores islands carrying a record-breaking nine tons worth of Europe-bound cocaine.
The operation, driven by the close collaboration of the United States and the United Kingdom, has been described by Portugal’s Judicial Police (PJ) as the largest cocaine seizure ever in the country and one of Europe’s largest.
PJ explained through an official statement that the anti-narcotics law enforcement action, given the name of “Operation Adamastor,” saw the successful interception of a Europe-bound semi-submersible vessel used to transport cocaine coming from Latin America — finding 300 bales of the illicit drug.
“The semi-submersible was intercepted on the high seas, about 230 nautical miles from the Azores, in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions due to adverse weather conditions,” the statement read.
The operation saw the joint efforts of Portugal’s Judicial Police in close collaboration and coordination with the United States’ Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Joint Inter-Agency Task Force – South (JIATF-S), as well as the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) within the framework of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center – Narcotics (MAOC-N) initiative.
On a Monday social media post, the U.S. embassy in Lisbon described the operation, the largest cocaine seizure in Portugal, as yet another demonstration of close collaboration between the DEA and Portugal’s PJ.
Speaking to the press at PJ’s headquarters in Lisbon, Artur Vaz, director of the police’s National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking detailed that of the 300 bales of cocaine that were being transported by the vessel, 35 sank along with the semi-submersible during the operation, which prevented their recovery.
“A total of around 265 bales of cocaine were recovered, in an estimated total quantity of approximately nine tons, which — if confirmed — after the necessary weighing has been carried out – will be the largest cocaine seizure ever made in the country,” Vaz reportedly said.
Vaz explained that the drug trafficking vessel had four crew members on board, three Colombian nationals and one Venezuela, all of whom were rescued and apprehended after the semi-submersible sank. Portuguese state-owned broadcaster RTP reported on Tuesday that a Ponta Delgada court ordered preventive detention to the four men.
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Euronews reports that on October 2025, Portuguese authorities seized close to six tons of hashish in the Seixal region, which, at the time, marked the largest drug seizure in the European country.
On March 2025, Portuguese authorities carried out “Operation Nautilus,” which saw officials intercept a semi-submersible vessel approximately 500 nautical miles South of the Azores carrying some 6.5 tons of Europe-bound cocaine. The vessel had departed from Brazil.
“The seizure of drugs, especially cocaine, appears to be on the increase off the Portuguese coast. Last year, more than 23 tonnes were seized, the highest figure since 2006,” Euronews wrote.
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