Police seize 2.3 tonnes of cocaine and free eight hostages in dramatic rescue off Canary Islands

Police searching for a shipment of 2.3 tonnes of cocaine heading from Latin America to a boat near the Canary Islands arrested a group of suspected cocaine traffickers after one of them shot dead a fellow smuggler and took the rest hostage on a boat.

A Serbian national seized control of the vessel, shot one of the other smugglers and threw his body overboard before taking eight crew members hostage in November.

Spanish police negotiated with the hostage taker, who ended up surrendering his weapon and freeing the crew, for hours.

All of the crew were then taken into custody and cocaine was seized.