The Judiciary Police took part in a major international operation targeting drug trafficking by sea, focusing on the eastern Atlantic corridor between the Azores and the Canary Islands. This route, which passes through the seas of Madeira, has become increasingly popular among criminal organisations for smuggling cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
The operation, called ‘ALPHA LIMA’, took place between the 13th and the 26th of April, and resulted in the seizure of 11 tons of cocaine and 8.5 tons of hashish, in addition to the arrest of 54 people and the interception of eight suspicious vessels.Â
According to a Judiciary Police statement, the investigation targeted international criminal networks that use the Atlantic Ocean to carry out drug transshipment operations, seeking to avoid large European ports and the authorities’ traditional detection methods. The police action mobilised maritime resources throughout the Atlantic, with missions to detect, track, and intercept suspicious vessels. In Portugal, as part of an investigation conducted by the PJ’s National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking, 2,196 kilos of cocaine were seized, with the support of the Maritime Police, the Portuguese Air Force, and the National Republican Guard.
According to information published on Europol’s website, the international waters between the Azores and the Canary Islands are currently considered one of the main routes for maritime drug trafficking in the Atlantic, and have even come to be known by the authorities as the ‘Cocaine Route,’ due to the growing number of vessels involved in this type of illicit transport.Â
Europol explains that criminal organisations take advantage of the isolation of that vast maritime area and the difficulties of permanently monitoring such a large ocean area, especially in areas far from traditional trade routes.
The operation was led by the Spanish Civil Guard and involved the police authorities from Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, under the operational coordination of Europol.
Madeira’s seas have already been the scene of one of the largest anti-drug trafficking operations carried out in the region. On the 21st of November 2025, an operation by the Judiciary Police that culminated in the seizure of more than seven tons of cocaine transported on fishing vessels in the Atlantic, part of which was unloaded in Madeira.
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