Andalucia president Juanma Moreno has demanded more police resources after a drug-trafficking boat rammed a Guardia Civil vessel, leaving several officers injured.

Five suspects were arrested following Thursday’s chase, which began near the mouth of the Guadalquivir river and ended off the coast of Huelva.

‘This happens day after day in Andalucia. Drug mafias are expanding, operating along the entire coast, and any intervention could end in another tragedy. Enough is enough,’ Moreno wrote on X on Friday.

He called for ‘more resources’ and ‘the full support of the state’ for officers confronting the gangs.

The collision happened during an operation to disrupt a suspected fuel delivery to high-speed boats linked to drug trafficking.

A patrol vessel from the Guardia Civil’s Cadiz maritime service pursued one of the boats after it fled near the Guadalquivir estuary.

During the chase, the suspect vessel allegedly rammed the patrol boat, causing visible damage and leaving several officers with minor injuries.

Despite the collision, officers continued the pursuit and intercepted the boat off Huelva, arresting its five occupants.

The incident prompted renewed criticism of Pedro Sanchez’s government from the Junta, which accused Madrid of failing to provide sufficient personnel, equipment and legal protection.

Antonio Sanz warned that drug trafficking was becoming a ‘structural problem’ in Andalucia, having spread beyond its traditional stronghold around the Strait of Gibraltar to other coastal areas and rivers.

‘This has to end,’ he said.

Sanz called for the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional to be formally recognised as high-risk professions and demanded stronger protection for officers undertaking dangerous operations.

He also urged the government to restore OCON-Sur, the specialist Guardia Civil unit established to tackle drug trafficking in southern Spain.

According to Sanz, Moreno wrote to Sanchez two months ago requesting its urgent reinstatement, but had received no reply.

‘Two months later, Sanchez has done nothing and has not answered that letter,’ he said.

Sanz argued that officers were confronting gangs equipped with powerful speedboats and military weapons while lacking adequate resources themselves.

Alongside more personnel and better equipment, he called for changes to police legislation and specialist judicial bodies to handle drug trafficking cases.

Manuel Gavira also accused Sanchez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska of abandoning the Guardia Civil.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.