In maritime surveillance and control operations, the Colombian Navy seized 150,000 packs of cigarettes and a bottle of tequila, contraband merchandise valued at more than 570 million pesos, which was transported in a boat in waters of the Caribbean Sea near the Zapata coast, in Antioquia.
The discovery was made thanks to the successful coordination conducted by the ship ARC Punta Espada and a Rapid Reaction Unit of the Urabá Coast Guard Station, who upon detecting the suspicious boat from Panama, intercepted the boat, finding 300 boxes with 150 thousand packs of cigarettes and a bottle of tequila without the documentation proving its origin, nor the import manifest issued by the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs - DIAN.
The merchandise valued at more than 570 million pesos and the boat were put into custody of DIAN to carry out the corresponding confiscation procedure, while the four people who were transporting the material were put into custody of officials of the Fiscal Police and Customs Office of Urabá.
It should be noted that this is the fourth finding of contraband merchandise made by the Urabá Coast Guard Station in the last month. The first of them was valued at 799 million pesos, the second at 234 million pesos and the third at more than 380 million pesos.
Source: press - Colombian Navy
