The court in the Azores said the three crew members, from Montenegro, Croatia and Great Britain were presented to a judge for interrogation on Saturday and Sunday following a search of the yacht that turned up 592 kg of cocaine.

The police said that the search of the yacht was the result of an international investigation as part of fighting drug trafficking on the high seas, conducted by the Azores criminal investigation police and the Nation Anti-Drug Trafficking Unit.

The investigation was also assisted by the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N), which is based in Lisbon and authorities from Spain, France, Italy and Montenegro.