LAS PALMAS Spanish authorities have seized a Brazilian-flagged fishing boat off the Canary Islands with 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in a hidden compartment in its machine room, police said on Friday as they brought the boat to the port of Las Palmas.

Authorities shared a video of the 25-metre (82.02 ft) Efesios 5-20 being approached on rough seas by a speedboat sent from the patrol ship Condor.

Officers arrested the crew of six people - five Brazilians and a Venezuelan national. The boat's name - Ethesians 5:20 in English - is a reference to a prayer by Paul the Apostle praising and thanking God.

Police said boats transporting drugs from Latin America often transfer their cargoes to other vessels in mid-Atlantic to more easily reach the European market. The Efesios 5-20 caught their attention because it was so close to the Spanish islands off the northwestern coast of Africa.

(Reporting by Borja Suarez Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Mark Potter)