Cocaine Cows: How Cartels Use Livestock Ships to Smuggle Tons of Drugs into Europe

Organised crime groups are exploiting ageing livestock carriers packed with diseased, foul‑smelling animals to move massive quantities of cocaine toward Europe, intelligence sources say. The ships are deliberately loaded with thousands of cattle in conditions so squalid that port authorities often avoid boarding them, creating a practical shield for drug concealment.

According to officials at the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre — Narcotics (MAOC‑N), an EU maritime anti‑drug unit based in Lisbon, rogue operators load worn‑out carriers in gang‑controlled ports such as Santos and Belém in Brazil and Cartagena in Colombia. Some livestock vessels can carry as many as 8,000–10,000 animals and measure around 200 metres in length; many are decades old and kept in poor sanitary conditions.

How the smuggling scheme works

Crews conspire with smaller vessels in the Caribbean or along South American coasts to pick up multi‑ton consignments of cocaine — typically between four and ten tonnes per voyage. Smugglers conceal packages inside grain silos, false compartments and other hard‑to‑inspect parts of the ship.

To reduce scrutiny, these carriers often sail under flags of convenience (registrations in states with lighter maritime oversight, such as Panama or Tanzania) and claim destinations with laxer livestock sanitary rules like Beirut or Damietta. In practice, intelligence indicates the drugs are ultimately intended for major European cocaine hubs such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.

When the vessel is well into the Atlantic, crew members reportedly attach drug packages to inflatable devices, fit GPS trackers and jettison them overboard. Fast boats then rendezvous to recover the floating consignments and ferry them ashore.

Why seizures are rare

MAOC‑N sources say the tactic is effective because authorities are reluctant to undertake the costly, time‑consuming and hazardous work of searching livestock ships. Inspecting or seizing such a vessel requires mobilising port facilities, unloading and quarantining thousands of sick or dead animals and coordinating multiple agencies — a logistical and sanitary nightmare.

“You would not want to spend more than one minute on one of these vessels — you can only imagine the smell. The authorities don’t want to have these vessels at their ports,” an intelligence analyst at MAOC‑N said.

Handlers also report that sniffer dogs are often ineffective because the overpowering odor from the animals and waste interferes with detection. Without precise intelligence about where contraband is hidden on a very large vessel, national police are frequently reluctant to commit to large‑scale operations.

Notable interceptions

Seizures have been rare but significant. On 24 January 2023 Spanish authorities intercepted the 100‑metre cattle carrier Orion V, 62 nautical miles south‑west of the Canary Islands during a voyage from Colombia to Lebanon. Officers discovered 4,500 kg of cocaine hidden in cattle feed silos; footage from body‑worn cameras showed officers wading through dung and urine from the ship’s roughly 1,750 cattle. The vessel, which flew a Togolese flag, was towed to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the crew were detained.

Similar methods have appeared outside Europe. In November, Australian authorities linked an attempt to smuggle roughly £84 million of cocaine into Western Australia to a livestock carrier. Fishermen recovered bales tied to a floating drum off Lancelin, about 75 miles north of Perth. Investigators allege the drugs had been discarded from a livestock ship en route to Fremantle; a vessel officer was subsequently charged and items such as a drum and ropes were seized during searches.

Responses and challenges

MAOC‑N — composed of ten member countries, including the United Kingdom — works closely with national agencies such as Britain’s National Crime Agency to counter maritime trafficking. Officials emphasise that better intelligence, targeted inspections and regional cooperation are needed to disrupt this method, but also note the enormous operational and animal‑welfare challenges that complicate enforcement.

As investigators refine detection techniques and international coordination improves, authorities hope to make these tactics less viable. For now, the use of livestock carriers remains a worrying example of how smugglers exploit regulatory, sanitary and logistical gaps to move large quantities of drugs across oceans.