'It was hell': Spanish cocaine raid adds to shipboard misery for 4,000 cows

Terrible conditions witnessed onboard livestock ship travelling from Colombia to Egypt suspected of being a cover for trafficking

When the Neameh sailed out of Colombia on 4 May, it should have been a routine shipment: just over 4,000 cattle, on their way to Egypt, an important hub for the global trade in live animal exports.

But accusations of cocaine smuggling and a police raid of the ship lengthened the journey.