Cartels use livestock to smuggle drugs to Europe

Drug cartels are using ships packed with disease-ridden cattle to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine to Europe.

Police do not seize the vessels because it is a “logistical nightmare” to deal with the thousands of cows, intelligence sources have told The Telegraph.

The festering and foul-smelling conditions on board, with many of the animals de.ad or having spent months wallowing in faeces, put officers off searching the ships.

In the gang-controlled ports of Santos and Belem in Brazil, and in Colombia’s Cartagena, up to 10,000 cows at a time are loaded on to the decrepit 200m long ships, according to sources at the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, Narcotics (MAOC-N).

MAOC-N is an EU law enforcement group based in Lisbon that combats drug-trafficking by sea.

Cartels use livestock to smuggle drugs to Europe

The 50-year-old carriers set sail around the Caribbean or South America to collect cocaine packages from smaller ships, typically picking up four to 10 tons, worth up to around £450m. The crew conceal the packages in the ship’s giant grain silos and other hiding places, the sources said.

The vessels will fly flags of convenience – where the ship is registered in a country different to its ownership, often in those with less stringent maritime regulations, such as Panama and Tanzania.

The vessels are officially bound for the ports of Beirut in Lebanon or Damietta in Egypt, where sanitation regulations for livestock are less stringent than in Europe.

However, the ship’s most lucrative cargo is destined for the major seaports of Antwerp or Rotterdam, Europe’s gateways for cocaine.