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High Seas: US and Netherlands authorities intercept 8,500 pounds of cocaine worth $245m and arrest 13 drug smugglers during 45-day sting operation in the Caribbean Sea
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] More than four tons of cocaine has been intercepted on ships smuggling narcotics in the Caribbean during a 45-day sting operation led by the US Coast Guard, officials said.At least 13 suspected drug smugglers from Colombia and the Dominican Republic were arrested in 11 incidents involving the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dauntless and the HNLMS Friedland of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Coast Guard was unable to say where the cocaine was being smuggled to and from after it offloaded the drugs at a Miami port. The arrests come six weeks after the Coast Guard cutter James dropped off 30 tons of cocaine and marijuana worth over $1 billion at Port Everglades in Florida. The 54,500 pounds of cocaine and 15,800 pounds of marijuana offloaded February 17 followed months of interdictions of drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean. Coca cultivation in Colombia in 2020 soared to 245,000 hectares (945 square miles), enough to produce 1,010 tons of cocaine, according to the White House’s latest report on harvesting trends in the Andean region. As recently as 2014, potential production was less than half that amount. Production in Peru and Bolivia has also steadily risen. Related: Caribbean: 2022-03-02 Lexington historian looking to have marker erected to honor local World War II hero Caribbean: 2022-02-15 Kidnapped American Rescued in Mexican Border City Caribbean: 2022-01-27 Canadian Killed in Mexican Resort Tied to Vietnamese Mafia, Say Police Posted by: Skidmark 2022-04-05 |
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