Spanish authorities have seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the Atlantic and detained the ship's five Venezuelan crew members

Spanish authorities have seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the Atlantic and detained the ship's five Venezuelan crew members, the interior ministry said Tuesday, cited by AFP.
Spanish police intercepted the Venezuelan-flagged "Rio Manzanares" just as it was about to deliver the cocaine to another ship operated by a suspected Spanish drug-trafficking gang, the minsitry said in a statement.
It gave no street value for the cocaine which was stored in 80 packages.
The ship is now being escorted to Spain's Canary Islands which are located just off the coast of Morocco.
Spain, with its extensive southern coastline, is Europe's main point of entry for Moroccan cannabis and for cocaine from South America, mostly from Colombia, the world's top producer of the drug.
The country has become the biggest consumer of cocaine in continental Europe, and is one of the world's top users of the drug, according to a report published in January by the United Nation's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).