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Gibraltar has described as "a serious violation of British sovereignty" that a Customs Surveillance vessel with a broken engine was forced by the current to the coast of the Rock, where the two agents on board were stoned by tobacco smugglers.

In a joint statement released this afternoon, the Governor, David Steel, and the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, indicate that Gibraltar is coordinating "its response to this incident with senior officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Kingdom Development Office Kingdom in London and with the British Ambassador in Spain".

The incident occurred at 5:00 a.m. yesterday Thursday when the auxiliary boat of a Customs Surveillance Service patrol boat, during the pursuit of a tobacco smugglers inflatable boat in the waters of the La Concepción Line (Cádiz ), suffered an engine failure, which stopped.

The state of the sea and the inertia caused the boat to be stranded on the nearby Levante del Peñón beach, according to sources from the Spanish Customs Surveillance Service.

At that moment, the two Customs Surveillance officials who were occupying the auxiliary boat began to receive the impact of stones thrown at them from the beach by a group of people, tobacco smugglers in a violent attitude who also insulted them.

In a video that has been broadcast on the networks, it is seen how the two agents, already injured, and while they receive stones and insults, they fight to push their boat into the sea and even ask the smugglers for help, who respond with more insults.

Customs Surveillance sources have indicated that the agents, to defend themselves, fired a shot into the water, and that they asked the Gibraltar customs forces for help.

The two agents managed to raise the boat by their own means and rowed to their patrol boat.

But in his statement, Gibraltar's chief minister says "the evidence surrounding this incident reveals a serious breach of British sovereignty and potentially the most serious and dangerous incident for many years."

They add that "if it is confirmed that the Spanish officials fired their weapons in Gibraltar" it would be a "very serious breach of the law", in addition to a "reckless and dangerous" action given "the proximity of a residential development".

"Before reacting we must, of course, be sure of the facts, but events indicate that the actions of Spanish officials are intolerable," he adds.

However, it ensures that Gibraltar Customs officials "immediately offered their colleagues in Spanish law enforcement assistance and medical attention."

"The SVA officers refused the medical attention offered. They told the Gibraltar Customs officers that despite the fact that their vessel appeared to have engine failure, they wanted to return immediately to their parent vessel, which they were allowed to do." according to information contained in the Gibraltar press release.

The main minister also points out that yesterday he contacted his Spanish counterparts to inquire about the state of the Spanish agents, one of whom has resulted in a broken nasal septum and the other is waiting to be intervened to attend to the fractures on the cheekbone and nasal septum caused by the stones.

The Chief Minister and the Governor also find the "illegal activity of a gang of individuals apparently involved in unlawful acts in Gibraltar" "unacceptable".

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