Police Dumped in Water Arrest Their Rescuers

A boat chase in the Mediterranean ended with an odd twist after a police boat collided with the boat of the suspected drug traffickers they were chasing, sending three cops into the water. The four suspects, however, pulled the unhurt officers to safety—and then were arrested for their trouble. Police said in a statement that the officers began chasing a speedboat carrying four people "that was suspected of transporting drugs" off the southern coast of Spain, the Guardian reports. The boats collided during the high-speed chase, sending the police boat spinning "out of control," the statement said. Police in a helicopter called on a megaphone for the suspects to help the officers in the water, and they did.

The arrests were made after officers found more than 3 tons of hashish in the water, police said; more than 80 bundles were pulled. The location, off Malaga, is along a drug smuggling route from Africa to Europe, per the Telegraph. The UN says Morocco, which is a short trip across the water, is the world's biggest exporter of hash. Spain has considered outlawing the semi-inflatable boats often used to smuggle migrants, as well as drugs, from north Africa. (More police chase stories.)