Within the framework of maritime control, surveillance and security operations carried out in the Caribbean, units of the Colombian Navy, in coordination with the Southern Interagency Task Force, detected and intercepted a Go Fast type ship carrying a large cargo of cocaine hydrochloride.
The operation took place 90 nautical miles northwest of Barranquilla, and began due to receiving intelligence information that alerted about the departure of a ship of the northern coast of the country bound for Central America. Thanks to the follow-up carried out by aeronautical means and the timely reaction of the Surface and Coast Guard units in the area, it was possible to find and intercept the suspicious boat without any loss of lives of its crewmembers.
During the interception procedure, the crew members of the suspicious boat left numerous packages at sea, for which a search and recovery operation was activated, sustained for more than two days, which had the support of the Oceanographic and Hydrographic Research Center of the Caribbean -CIOH- to establish the whereabouts of the packages following the models of currents and tides of the area, of Naval Aviation, Surface and Coast Guard units of the Caribbean Naval Force, and of the Colombian Aerospace Force. As a result of the search work, 105 packages with a weight of 2,621 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride were recovered, according to the Approved Preliminary Identification Test -PIPH-, carried out by members of the Judicial Police Military Forces.
This result represents an economic loss of close to 125 million dollars for drug trafficking organizations, and is equivalent to approximately 6.5 million doses, thanks to which this narcotic is prevented from contaminating the communities of the countries of the region.
Six crewmembers were arrested at the scene, including three Colombian citizens, two Venezuelans and a Jamaican, who, along with the material found, were put into custody of the authorities.
Through this result, the Colombian Navy reaffirms its commitment to the frontal fight against drug trafficking, directly hitting the finances of criminal structures and contributing to the security of maritime communication lines in the Colombian Caribbean.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
