In the course of two maritime interdiction operations, Colombian, U.S., Panamanian, and Honduran authorities prevented 7.9 tons of cocaine that were being transported by way of the Caribbean Sea from reaching their destination in Central America.
In the course of two maritime interdiction operations, Colombian, U.S., Panamanian, and Honduran authorities prevented 7.9 tons of cocaine that were being transported by way of the Caribbean Sea from reaching their destination in Central America.
The first operation took place in the Porvenir area, in the San Blas archipelago in Panama, when thanks to the exchange of information with the Colombian Navy, Panamanian and U.S. authorities intercepted a sailboat with the name Intaka, in the interior of which 3,454 kilos of cocaine hydrochloride were found, mixed with the vessel’s fuel.
The American-flagged motor sailboat, carrying a Spanish man and a Colombian woman, had sailed from Cartagena with the port of Colón, in Panama, as its destination.
The other operation took place in international waters, 160 nautical miles from the island of San Andrés, where a semisubmersible with cargo capacity for approximately 4.5 tons of cocaine was detected.
A U.S. maritime patrol plane caught sight of the vessel, carrying four Colombians and one Honduran, who scuttled the semisubmersible upon noting the presence of the authorities in the area.
The individuals arrested in the two operations, together with the alkaloid, were turned over to the Panamanian and Honduran authorities respectively.
In the two maritime interdiction operations, the National Navy exchanged information with the authorities of these countries, within the framework of the maritime agreements that have been signed, with the aim of combating the plague of drug trafficking and denying drug traffickers use of the sea.