The Supreme Court confirms 20 years in prison for piracy and homicide following the attack on the patrol boat Fulmar in 2023. The ruling reconstructs the assault that cost the life of officer Carlos Esquembri and coincides with his highest institutional recognition from the Tax Agency.
The justice has delivered its final word this April 2026 on one of the most tragic operations in the fight against drug trafficking on the Atlantic route. The Supreme Court has upheld the sentences for the crew of a sailboat loaded with cocaine, in a ruling that not only imposes severe prison sentences but also reconstructs with surgical precision the assault that cost the life of Customs Surveillance officer Carlos Esquembri Hinojo.
The events, which the High Court now definitively qualifies as an act of piracy, date back to March 18, 2023. In international waters, about 700 miles west of the Canary Islands, the patrol boat Fulmar intercepted a sailboat suspected of carrying cocaine following a DEA alert. During the boarding maneuver, the helmsman of the civil vessel made a sharp and intentional turn with the aim of ramming the agents’ auxiliary boat. The impact capsized the state vessel, trapping officer Esquembri under the hull, who died from asphyxiation due to drowning.
The judicial account details a scene of chaos and extreme violence. While Esquembri’s comrades tried to rescue him and revive him on the deck of the sailboat, one of the drug traffickers fired a flare at the fuel drums of his own ship. The resulting fire caused explosions that destroyed the illicit cargo and sank the sailboat, forcing the agents to rescue their own assailants while guarding the lifeless body of their chief officer.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, which has been presented by judge Pablo Llarena, has increased the punishment for the helmsman, raising his sentence to 20 years in prison. The court stresses that it was not a nautical accident, but a deliberate attack against public officials to protect the cargo. The perpetrator of the fire has been sentenced to 16 years, while the rest of the crew will serve a decade behind bars.
This judicial closure coincides with the deep institutional recognition of the figure of Carlos Esquembri. The Melillan officer, a special operations instructor and veteran of numerous maritime battles, has posthumously received the highest distinction from the Tax Agency: the Recognition of Relevant Merits. His widow, Matilde Gómez, received a plaque in 2025 that symbolizes the sacrifice of those who, away from any media spotlight, fight a real war in the middle of the ocean.
The Supreme Court ruling not only restores the truth of what happened but also dignifies the memory of Esquembri by recognizing that his death was the price of an act of service against an enemy who, as the ruling points out, did not hesitate to use piracy tactics to evade the law. Melilla and the Customs Surveillance Service thus bid farewell to a ‘civil hero’ whose loss has served to strengthen jurisprudence against those who turn the sea into a territory of impunity.
