EGN NEWS DESK
In the primary operation, footage from a Panther helicopter offered by the navy confirmed a ship chase southwest of town of Manzanillo. Naval officers aboard a patrol vessel intercepted three speedboats, the navy mentioned in a Friday information launch. Authorities seized 126 packages containing 5.6 tons of suspected cocaine, marking the most important drug seizure of the present administration. The navy mentioned 15 suspects had been arrested and over 1,000 liters of gasoline was confiscated.
In a second operation, naval patrol boats and a helicopter retrieved 32 packages floating within the water, which contained suspected cocaine weighing about 1.6 tons. A small speedboat with three outboard motors was additionally confiscated. That raid was carried out close to the coastal metropolis of Lazaro Cardenas within the Michoacan state, a area suffering from cartel violence.
The navy launched a number of photographs after the raids on social media, exhibiting dozens of wrapped packages laid out on a patrol vessel subsequent to officers and a helicopter.
Mexican Navy/Handout by way of REUTERS
Officials mentioned Monday that an assault that left seven group police members dead in Michoacan over the weekend was associated to battles by cartels vying for management of the coastal space, which is a key touchdown spot for cocaine shipments delivered by sea.
The cocaine seizures within the Pacific Ocean come a few yr after a semi-submersible vessel — or so-called narco sub — carrying greater than 7,000 kilos of suspected cocaine was intercepted off the coast of Mexico after a dramatic high-speed chase. At the time, the Mexican Navy posted a video on Facebook exhibiting an aerial view of the semi-submersible being chased by ships and a helicopter earlier than lastly being intercepted.
Reuters Video
More than half of the cocaine discovered on the earth is produced in Colombia.
