DRUG traffickers stole a pleasure boat from Altea marina in Alicante Province to convert it into a narco-craft.
But a day after the theft, the four men were caught in the vessel off Murcia’s Cartagena coast.
The 11-metre long boat had three powerful outboard engines and was valued at €400,000.
After the men took it, they went south to Murcia.
By chance, a Guardia Civil surveillance vessel spotted the craft sailing away from Cartagena.
Officers boarded the stolen boat and discovered the thieves had quickly upgraded the interior for drug trafficking purposes.
Satellite phones, specialist GPS equipment, and frequency jammers to block mobile phones had all been installed within a day.
The men from Almeria, Cadiz, and Granada appeared in a Cartagena court and with their previous drug-trafficking records, they were sent to prison.
The boat has been returned to its rightful owner.
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