According to the police, the semi-submersible, "used by a transnational criminal organization," was intercepted in the Atlantic as part of an "operation to combat drug trafficking by sea."

In total, four people, from Venezuela, were arrested.

The operation, according to the PJ, "originated from information shared with the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre Narcotics (MAOC-N)," a European centre for coordinating and combating international drug trafficking by sea and air.

The action was coordinated between the PJ and the Portuguese Navy and involved international cooperation, including the Portuguese Air Force, the UK's National Crime Agency, the French Direction Nationale du Renseignement et des Enquêtes Douanières (DNRED), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Joint Interagency Task Force South, both from the USA.

The investigation is now being handled by the PJ's National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking and continues "in cooperation with authorities from other countries."