Four people have been arrested after the Guardia Civil intercepted a high-powered speedboat carrying more than 3,600 litres of fuel near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Andalucia.

The vessel, which was equipped with four engines, was allegedly being used to supply fuel to other boats operating offshore.

The operation was carried out by the Guardia Civil’s Maritime Service, which intercepted the speedboat near the river’s estuary, between the provinces of Cadiz and Huelva.

Officers discovered 147 containers of petrol on board, amounting to more than 3,600 litres of fuel.

All four occupants were arrested and the fuel was seized.

Such boats, commonly known as petaqueras, are frequently used to supply fuel to high-powered vessels involved in drug trafficking operations along Spain’s southern coastline.

By delivering petrol offshore, these support boats can allow trafficking vessels to remain at sea for extended periods without returning to port.

The mouth of the Guadalquivir River is a strategically important area for maritime policing because of its proximity to the Atlantic drug trafficking routes used by criminal organisations operating between North Africa and southern Spain.

However, the Guardia Civil has not specified whether the intercepted vessel was directly linked to a particular drug trafficking organisation.

The nationalities of those arrested and the precise date of the operation have not been disclosed.

The Guardia Civil confirmed the seizure in a statement published on its official social media account on Saturday (October 10).

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.