Military Forces seized more than half a ton of cocaine aboard a merchant ship

In the course of a coordinated operation conducted by the Colombian Navy and the National Police, it was possible to seize 510 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride aboard a Singapore-flagged merchant ship, in the Bahía Colombia, in Turbo, Antioquia.

Thanks to information provided by the Civic Participation Network which alerted about the presence of stowaways on the ship, the units of the Urabá Coast Guard Station and the units of the Urabá Anti-Narcotics Control Port were deployed in area to inspect the merchant ship that was traveling to Costa Rica. They found 20 suitcases, apparently abandoned by the individuals in the early morning hours.

The material was transported to the Coast Guard Station of Urabá, where the Preliminary Identification Tests (PIPH) delivered a positive result for 510.11 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride. During the operation no captures were made.

With this seizure, the Military Forces prevented about USD $17 million -the price in the illegal U.S. market- from entering the financial structures of drug trafficking organizations in the Colombian Caribbean.

Source: press-Navy of Colombia