Spanish police arrested three Croatian nationals when they intercepted their sailboat in the Spanish waters near La Palma carrying a total of 980 packages or nearly a ton of high-quality cocaine,Guardia Civil said in a statement on Saturday.

When packages of cocaine started washing up on the beaches of the Black Sea last year, it made headlines around the world. Romanian police swiftly scrambled hundreds of officers in what they said was an unprecedented search for the seaborne drugs.