A boat belonging to the Coastal Control Unit (UCC) of the GNR was stolen this Wednesday from the Docapesca pier, in Vila Real de Santo António. The semi-rigid vessel, measuring about 10 metres, was normally used in operations to combat drug trafficking in the Eastern Algarve and on the Guadiana River.

According to a report by CM, the GNR confirms that the crime “took place between 6:00am and 7:00am, the time when officers from the Patrol and Maritime Intervention Team of the Unit carried out a patrol action on the Guadiana River”.

The motorboat 'Alcoutim' was moored at the pier at the time of the patrol's departure. The GNR states that “diligences were made to locate the vessel, with the help of the Guardia Civil, so far without success”.

The pier where the vessel was moored "was closed to the public, being for the exclusive use of the Guard's military, allowing only access by sea, through the Fishing Port", explains the General Command of the GNR.

In the last few weeks, in just six days, 12 tonnes of hashish were seized in the Algarve. In one of the cases, the UCC chased a speedboat with 3,850 kilos of hashish on the Guadiana River, which ended with a collision and four traffickers injured.