Video: Portugal Intercepts Maersk Boxship and Seizes 5 Tonnes of Cocaine

Five tonnes of cocaine along with two stowaways and one crewmember were seized in the dryg bust (Judicial Police)

Published Aug 6, 2026 3:07 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Portuguese Judicial Police are reporting one of the country’s largest ever drug seizures completed aboard a Hong Kong-flagged containership while underway. The situation, however, has grown further complicated as a crewmember who had been arrested along with two stowaways was found dead hours later in a prison cell in Portugal.

The authorities reported they had been able to dismantle a criminal group dedicated to smuggling large quantities of drugs into Europe. It was part of an investigation shared at the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre-Drugs, as well as working with the UK’s National Crime Agency and Spain’s Policia Nacional.

Working with the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, the operations intercepted the containership while it was underway at a position about 640 nautical miles off the coast of Portugal in the Atlantic. 

The vessel in question, identified as Maersk Nokwanda, serves the banana-trade ports of Ecuador and the Colombian Pacific coast - one of the most prolific drug-smuggling regions globally. On her most recent voyage, Maersk Nokwanda called at Posorja and Machala, Ecuador; Buenaventura, Columbia; Balboa and Colon, Panama; then crossed the Atlantic on an itinerary that would ordinarily take her to Tangier Med and other Mediterranean ports. 

The images showed the forces rappelling onto the vessel from helicopters. Once aboard, they reported finding two stowaways, which media reports identified as an Italian and a Colombian citizens. The two were reported to be undocumented and were believed to be involved in the smuggling operation, and were arrested. The police also seized objects for navigating, transporting the drugs, and throwing them overboard.

Searching the vessel, the police uncovered five tons of cocaine in void spaces. They also interviewed the crew and took one person, reported to be an Indian citizen, into custody. The Navy escorted the containership to the port of Sines where the vessel docked on August 4. The cocaine was offloaded.

The head of the police’s drug trafficking unit confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday, August 5, that the crewmember had been discovered hanging in his cell early on Wednesday morning. He was being detained alone in a cell. They pronounced him deceased and are investigating the circumstances of his death. Media reports said he was believed to have been the person with the most information about the smuggling operation.

European authorities have increased their efforts to intercept the large quantities of drugs being smuggled into Europe. Portugal has reportedly already confiscated approximately 28 tonnes in 2026, which surpasses the country’s total for all of 2025.

The Judicial Police suspect that the Maersk Nokwanda smugglers intended to conduct a high-seas "drop-off" to transfer the drugs to fast-boat operators, who would then move the illicit cargo to the littorals of the Spanish or Portuguese coasts. This transport model is increasingly popular for traffickerslooking to avoid heightened scrutiny at larger seaports, as it avoids all of the security measures that accompany port infrastructure. 

These high-seas boat transfers sometimes get disrupted or go awry, leaving the cargo to float at sea or wash up on public beaches. Just last week, Portugal's Maritime Police found and seized two tonnes of abandoned cocaine near the Troia Peninsula.