A suspected drug trafficker has been killed and four people injured in a high-speed boat chase near the Spanish port of Cadiz.
The accident happened after the Spanish Guardia Civil, supported by a helicopter, started a chase after eight speedboats that had entered the Guadalquivir River early on Sunday morning.
During the chase, a boat “loaded with drugs” managed to dock next to another boat, which the crew then used to flee, the civil guard said in a statement.
Head-on collision 'at full power'
Police continued to chase the boat carrying the suspected smugglers, which then accelerated before crashing head-on “at full force” into the riverbank.
“The boat capsized, killing one person and injuring four others to varying degrees,” the statement said.
According to police, at least “47 bales of hash” were left behind on the abandoned vessel and another 74 bales of hash were found around the crash site.
It is the latest in a series of recent confrontations on the water involving Spanish authorities.
The incident follows the deaths of two police officers whose boat was hit by a drug dealer during a chase in the province of Cadiz, near the port of Barbate, in February.
Main entry point for medicines
In this region, drugs are regularly seized by Spanish customs officers and the Guardia Civil. Spain is one of the main transit countries for drugs to Europe.
There have also been recent clashes at sea between Spanish police patrols and migrant ships.
Last week, a Guardia Civil speedboat ran over a boat suspected of carrying migrants trying to reach the Spanish territory of Melilla in North Africa.
Click here to view this content.
Footage showed police officers chasing the ship and attempting to block its path, before cutting the ship in half, sending passengers into the water.
Moroccan authorities said they were investigating the accident, which injured one person, but the Spanish Interior Ministry said it would not do so.
