Portugal Seizes 5 Tonnes of Cocaine From Maersk Boxship

A Major Interception in the Atlantic

Portuguese authorities have carried out one of the country’s largest-ever drug busts, boarding a Hong Kong-flagged Maersk containership roughly 640 nautical miles off the Portuguese coast. According to a report by Maritime Executive, the Judicial Police, working alongside the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, rappelled from helicopters onto the vessel, Maersk Nokwanda, while it was underway in the Atlantic.

The operation formed part of a broader investigation coordinated through the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre-Drugs, with support from the UK’s National Crime Agency and Spain’s Policia Nacional. Officers reportedly uncovered five tonnes of cocaine concealed in void spaces aboard the ship, along with equipment believed to be used for navigation, transport, and jettisoning of the narcotics.

Stowaways, an Arrest, and a Death in Custody

Searches turned up two undocumented stowaways aboard, reportedly an Italian and a Colombian national, both suspected of involvement in the smuggling scheme and taken into custody. Investigators also detained a crewmember, said to be an Indian national, for questioning.

The case took a grim turn when that same crewmember was later found dead in his prison cell in Portugal, discovered hanging while held alone. Police confirmed the death at a press briefing and said an investigation into the circumstances is underway. Media reports suggested he may have held the most detailed knowledge of the smuggling operation, raising questions about the case going forward.

Maersk Nokwanda was escorted by the Navy to the port of Sines, where it docked and the cocaine was offloaded.

A Familiar Trafficking Route

The vessel’s recent voyage pattern fits a pattern long associated with cocaine smuggling: calls at Posorja and Machala in Ecuador, Buenaventura in Colombia, and Balboa and Colon in Panama, before crossing the Atlantic toward Mediterranean ports such as Tangier Med. Ecuador’s banana-export terminals and Colombia’s Pacific coast are widely recognized as high-risk origin points, as trafficking networks frequently exploit legitimate reefer and container cargo flows to move drugs undetected.

Investigators believe the traffickers intended a high-seas transfer, handing the cargo to fast boats bound for the Spanish or Portuguese coast rather than risking detection at a major port. This approach has become more common as smugglers try to sidestep the security screening now standard at large container terminals. Such offshore drop-offs don’t always go to plan — just a week earlier, Portugal’s Maritime Police recovered two tonnes of abandoned cocaine that had washed ashore near the Troia Peninsula.

Portugal has now confiscated roughly 28 tonnes of cocaine in 2026 alone, already exceeding its full-year total for 2025, underscoring how aggressively European authorities are ramping up interdiction efforts.

What It Means for Owners and Operators

This case is a reminder that vessels calling at high-risk origin ports face concealment risks that go well beyond cargo holds — void spaces, sea chests, rudder trunks, and other internal compartments remain favored hiding spots precisely because they sit outside routine cargo operations. For ship managers and technical superintendents, it reinforces the value of structured pre-departure inspections and condition surveys that specifically examine these less-visible spaces, particularly on vessels transiting known smuggling corridors in Latin America.

The presence of stowaways and an apparently complicit crewmember also highlights the human-element vulnerabilities that can accompany drug-smuggling schemes, from access control at berth to crew vetting. Charterers and operators relying on vessels serving these trades may increasingly want documented evidence of anti-smuggling searches and security procedures as part of their due diligence, both to protect cargo integrity and to avoid the reputational and operational fallout of a seizure — including lengthy port diversions, detentions, and investigations that can disrupt schedules for weeks.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.