SPECIALIST police swooped on Penzance Harbour and arrested a man aboard a Penzance cargo boat suspected of being part of a major drug trafficking ring.
It is believed the American national is wanted in Spain in connection with a £30 million cocaine haul made by Spanish authorities.
More than a dozen police officers, both uniformed and non-uniformed, raided the renamed Evora – formerly the cargo ship Ivor B – as she sat in the harbour at 8pm on Monday.
Officers involved in the carefully planned operation requested assistance from the RNLI's Penlee inshore lifeboat, which stationed itself in the harbour mouth with two police officers on board in case their target tried to escape by sea.
The Scillonian III ferry, with 282 passengers returning from Scilly on board, was asked to wait in the bay for nearly an hour while the operation – which had initially been planned for dawn on Tuesday – went ahead.
Witnesses say one man was led away from the 30-metre cargo vessel which until recently was used by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company for ferrying materials for the new Five Islands School project to the Scillies.
Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed they were involved in assisting the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in executing a European arrest warrant at the harbour.
It is thought the arrested man had been working on preparing the Evora for sea. Penzance harbour master Captain Neil Clark said the stated destination of the cargo ship was the Cape Verde Islands.
On Thursday Spanish authorities announced they had seized 500kg of cocaine from a yacht off the Canary Islands in an operation that saw five people arrested. Spanish officials said they had smashed a drugs ring that shipped large amounts of drugs from South America to Cape Verde, where it was stored to be shipped on later to the Canary Islands.
Spanish police also seized several weapons, including two submachine guns, as well as jewellery and gold worth around 135,000 euros (£116,00), and 40,000 euros in cash in five searches carried out as part of their investigation.
Authorities in Spain also confiscated two high-end vehicles, two sailboats and a schooner, as well as satellite telecommunications equipment.
At the time Spanish police refused to rule out more arrests in the continuing investigation. The European arrest warrant executed on Monday night is believed to be the latest of those arrests.
The Evora was sold by former owners the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company.
Mr Clark said police had approached him and informed him they had an "interest" in the new owner of the Evora and that they were planning to carry out an operation in the harbour.
Penlee RNLI Coxswain Patch Harvey said he was approached by police yesterday afternoon to provide back-up to the operation. He and crew member Dave Pascoe "took the RIB across with two police officers and hung around the harbour until the arrest was made. We also asked the Scillonian to stay out until the operation had been carried out."
A SOCA spokesman confirmed that a European arrest warrant had been executed by Devon and Cornwall Police. He said a 70-year-old American had appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates in London today and had been remanded in custody pending extradition proceedings.