The Mexican Navy said Tuesday it has seized 3.6 tons (about 8,000 pounds) of cocaine aboard a “narco sub” off the Pacific coast, which was spotted earlier this week about 150 miles offshore seaside resort of Acapulco.
Navy ships arrived to intercept the boat, which was carrying 102 packages of cocaine, authorities said in a news release.
The craft, of the type known as ‘go-fast boats’, was powered by two outboard motors and appeared to be a stealthy, semi-submersible craft – known as a ‘narco-sub’ – designed to allow detection . more difficult.
The navy detained nine crew members, six of whom were foreigners, on board the vessel. The Navy did not specify their nationalities, but many of the boats found off the coast of Mexico have Colombian or Venezuelan crew members.
Officials released an image of numbered packages containing the cocaine flanked by two Navy ships.
Mexican Navy
Cocaine is produced in South America and is usually shipped via the Pacific Ocean or the Caribbean to reach the US market.
The seizure comes just weeks after the Mexican Navy announced this was the case more than 8.3 tons were seized of drugs in the Pacific, a record for a single operation at sea. The cargo was intercepted from six different ships, including a “narco-sub” containing approximately 4,800 pounds of narcotics.
The Navy said Tuesday that more than 15,000 pounds of suspected drugs have been seized at sea under the current administration.
Earlier this year, the Mexican Navy seized more than seven tons of suspected cocaine in two separate raids in the Pacific Ocean. dramatic video conquered the high-speed pursuits on the open sea.
In September, the U.S. Coast Guard said it had offloaded more than $54 million worth of cocaine, including more than 1,200 pounds of drugs seized from a “narco-submarine.”
Semi-submersibles, which cannot go completely underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers because they can sometimes escape detection by law enforcement agencies. The ships are sometimes seized in Colombian waters while en route to the United States, Central America and Europe. Earlier this summer, the Colombian navy said it had seized two “narco-submarines” off the country’s Pacific coast, containing nearly five tons of cocaine.
