Skip to main content

DRUG BUST - 10 tons of Cannabis - June 2018.


Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (GDF) finance police boarded and searched a Dutch Flag fishing vessel QUEST around 130 nautical miles southeast of Sicily after tracking the vessel from the air for two days, seizing over 10 tonnes of cannabis resin worth up to 20 million euros in a dramatic high-seas operation, arresting all nine crew members and confiscating the vessel on Thursday 7th June.

The GDF said that the drugs recovered from the boat were of a sufficiently high quality that it had a market value of between 15-20 million euros ($17.7 million-$23.6 million).

Italian Newspaper La Repubblica said that the ringleader was a Maltese man, who it named as David Bonello. The Italian news outlet had initially said three of the nine arrested were Maltese, only to revise that as more information surfaced.  
Italian media said the boat had set sail from Malta and had picked up the drugs after a rendezvous with dealers off the coast of Morocco and Algeria. La Repubblica newspaper said that criminals in Libya had overseen the operation.
The vessel was captained by a Romanian, with Mr Bonello allegedly its second-in-command and trafficking ringleader, according to La Repubblica newspaper.
Two Egyptians, two Ukrainians, one Dutchman, a Croatian and an Italian made up the rest of the crew, the news outlet said. The latter previously served as an officer in Italy's prison system before being kicked out after being suspected of robbery.
Below images of QUEST arrested at Catania, Sicily after she was escorted by GDF Vessels -



Vessel entered Valletta, Malta on Sunday 18th March as SEA VIEW berthing at Church Wharf alongside other vessels (seen below) -

She was seen berthed at MMH Facilities as SEA VIEW on Sunday 20th May -

And she left Valletta as QUEST on Tuesday 22nd May 2018 taking a pilot at 1906 hrs stating her next port of call is Bizerte, Tunisia.

Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos - www.maltashipphotos.com





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

U.S. Destroyer Challenges China’s Claims in South China Sea August 10, 2017  by  Reuters By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” on Thursday, coming within 12 nautical miles of an art Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen recently after North Korea carried out two nuclear tests last year and two ICBM tests last month, prompting a strong round of U.N. sanctions. That angered Pyongyang which has threatened to teach the United States a “severe lesson.” Trump responded by warning North Korea it would face “fire and fury” if it further threatened the United States. ificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials told Reuters. The operation came as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs and could complicate efforts to secure a common stance. The officials, speaking on condition o...
Post a Comment
Read more
MAERSK INVENTOR at Malta - 18.05.2018. The 2018 built Isle of Man  flagged (IOM) Subsea Support Vessel (SSV)   MAERSK INVENTOR   entered Valletta (Grand Harbour), Malta for the first time on Friday 18th May, 2018 at 0715 hrs. She's the third out of four Stingray Class Subsea Support Vessel. Maersk  ordered a series of four Stingray vessels in 2014. Designed together with Marin Teknikk, the ships are built as a platform to carry out deep and shallow water operations. With an energy efficient propulsion set-up, these DP 3 vessels feature a 400-ton active heave compensated (AHC) crane and two work class remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) capable of operating in a water depth of up to 3,000 meters. Below are some images of MAERSK INVENTOR entering Valletta - At 0938 hrs the 1977 built bunkering tanker SANTA MARIA secured her booms to start bunkering the vessel.  And at 1902 hrs she left Val...
Post a Comment
Read more
VALLETTA CRUISE PORT -  Week 28 of 2018 . Interesting Week seeing different types of ships with cruise liners Aerial Image of GRAND HARBOUR, Malta back to 8th December 2009 Sunday 8th July, 2018. At 2210 hrs the 2007 built MLT flag passenger ship  ARTEMIS  left Valletta from  Pinto 4 wharf. Wednesday 11th July, 2018. From 0614 to 1733 hrs the 2018 built  MSC SEAVIEW  was at Valletta berthed at Pinto 1 and 2 wharves.   From 0628 to 1703 hrs the  the 1998 built  VISION OF THE SEAS was at Valletta berthed at Pinto 4 and 5 wharves . Vessel  was represented in Malta by SMS Shipping (http://www.sms.com.mt) Thursday 12th July, 2018. From 0514 to 2147 hrs the 2000 built BMU flag cruise liner OCEANA  was at  Valletta berthed at  Pinto 1 and 2 wharves. Vessel was represented in Malta by Malta Cruise Services, a division of Mifsud  Brothers Ltd - ( http://www.mbl.com.mt/) ...
Post a Comment
Read more