Press Conference At Judicial Police HQs On Nautilus Operation Seizing Seven Tons Of Cocaine

LISBON, PORTUGAL - MARCH 25: Head of Operations at British MAOC-N Steve Reynolds delivers remarks during a press conference on "Nautilus" operation that meant the capture at sea of a submarine carrying some 7 tons of cocaine, at the the Judicial Police headquarters on March 25, 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal. In a concerted action between the Portuguese and Spanish authorities, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) carried out an operation few days ago to during which it was possible to locate and intercept a semi-submersible carrying cocaine bound for the Iberian Peninsula. The “Nautilus” operation, in which the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, the Spanish Guardia Civil, the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the UK National Crime Agency took part in addition to the PJ, originated from information shared by the Guardia Civil at the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center - Narcotics (MAOC-N), based in Lisbon, and is being developed in an investigation led by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action. The vessel, intercepted some 500 nautical miles south of the Azores, was carrying five crew members along with around seven tons of drugs, which were destined for various countries on the European continent. (Photo by Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)