5 1/2 tons of cocaine seized in Spain

MADRID, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Spanish customs agents who boarded a Venezuela-flagged fishing boat at sea say they discovered it was hauling 11,000 pounds of cocaine.

The seizure took place Friday when the Spanish navy patrol boat Centinela pulled alongside the 52-foot Dona Fortuna in the Atlantic Ocean about 800 nautical miles from the Canary Islands, EFE reported.

Custom agents said they found more than 180 bundles of Colombian cocaine worth an estimated $317.5 million, the Spanish news agency said.

Five people aboard the vessel were taken into custody.