In the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Colombia, authorities discovered the biggest load of cocaine of the year. Military ships and planes chased down a speedboat that was carrying almost four tons of cocaine.
A joint action between the Colombian Navy, the Colombian Air Force, and the Joint Interagency Task Force of the US Southern Command took place near San Andrés Isla, and the cocaine was seized. Experts estimate the cocaine’s value to exceed $113 million. The navy put out a dramatic video of the chase from above, during which the crew of the suspicious ship “began evasive actions, throwing packages into the water.”
Officials report that they finally caught the boat after a chase spanning several miles. The goods on board were covered in a blue tarp. The authorities arrested three individuals from Colombia, one from Honduras, and one from Venezuela who were on the speedboat. Later tests showed that the boat had been carrying 3,355 kilograms of cocaine, which is about 3.7 tons of the drug.
Officials said the seized cocaine came in more than eight million doses that would “not reach the streets of different countries, thus avoiding the impact on public health.” A video from the navy showed officers unloading and arranging hundreds of packages of the drug.
The Attorney General’s Office received the drugs, boat, and five suspects, according to the navy.
They had just told a British warship and an American patrol plane that they had chased down a speedboat whose crew was trying to escape and dump more drugs into the water near the U.S. Virgin Islands. This operation between the US and Colombia took place in the Caribbean Sea. Police in the UK said they found about three tons of cocaine and other drugs.
Colombia’s coast also sees a lot of drug seizures.
Officials say that last month, while looking for two lost fishermen off the Pacific coast of Colombia, they found a semi-submersible ship that was full of more than four tons of cocaine. The Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Colombian Air Force ships, along with the Colombian Air Force, caught the so-called “narco sub” during their work together.
Colombia is responsible for approximately 60% of the global cocaine production.
