A boat carrying various materials and 3,000 liters of fuel was seized, and its contents were handed over to the judicial authority for further investigation, the National Maritime Authority (AMN) reported in a statement.
The speedboat was spotted drifting during a river patrol by members of the Maritime Police of Vila Real de Santo António around 9:30 a.m., according to AMN.
No crew or drugs were found on the unregistered boat, only the materials, which were later transported to the Local Command of the Maritime Police facilities, the statement added.
Efforts to detect such vessels that use the Portuguese coast for drug trafficking operations or illegal immigration support have been intensified.
The Guadiana River is also sometimes used by criminal groups to introduce drugs into Spain or Portugal on these boats or to load fuel, which is then transported to other vessels offshore.
