MADRID: A high-speed boat chase near the Spanish port city of Cadiz left one alleged drug trafficker dead and four injured when their vessel crashed into the riverbank late at night, authorities said on Sunday.

Spain’s Civil Guard said officers on the water backed by a helicopter began pursuing eight boats spotted entering the Guadalquivir River at full speed on Saturday night, with the aim of preventing them from unloading their suspected illicit cargo.

One boat “loaded with drugs” managed to dock next to another that the crew then used to flee, the Civil Guard said in a statement, adding that “47 bales of hashish” were left behind on the abandoned vessel.

Members of the Civil Guard continued their chase of the boat carrying the suspected traffickers, which then accelerated before crashing head-on “at full power” into the riverbank.

“The boat overturned, resulting in the death of one person, while four others were injured to varying degrees,” the statement said. Another 74 bales of hashish were recovered around the accident site in addition to the drugs found on the first vessel.

The accident comes seven months after the death of two civil guards whose boat was struck by a drug boat during a chase in the port of Barbate, in the province of Cadiz.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2024

Opinion

Revival? For whom?

Revival? For whom?

Numerous sets of numbers, not quoted by govt sources, suggest that things are not as dazzling as claimed by those who run the country.

Editorial

Premature alarm
Updated 20 Feb, 2025

Premature alarm

Improvement in headline inflation gives policymakers chance to fix investment policies, implement structural reforms.
Forsaken province
20 Feb, 2025

Forsaken province

AND the endless cycle of violence continues. The brutal killing on Tuesday night of seven Punjab-bound passengers in...
In poor health
20 Feb, 2025

In poor health

THE absence of decent and affordable healthcare in the country continues to ruin lives. An example of this is ...
Out of control
Updated 19 Feb, 2025

Out of control

AS bodies continue to fall in Kurram despite a state-sanctioned ceasefire, one wonders how long local militants’...
Hollow words
19 Feb, 2025

Hollow words

IT is not uncommon for politicians to resort to the use of hyperbole in order to boost their public standing. ...
Migration matters
19 Feb, 2025

Migration matters

THE grass, it seems, did appear greener on the other side to millions of people as evidenced by the latest UN ...