A ton of cocaine, worth an estimated US$23 million, has been seized in the Caribbean Sea by the crew of the Cutter Pelican working as part of 'Operation Caribbe'
Operating under the direction of US Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), the US Coast Guard said law enforcement officers boarded a speedboat that was located south of Jaragua in the Dominican Republic and discovered 30 bales of cocaine.
The narcotics weighed 834 kg and had a street value of $23million.
Three suspected smugglers were arrested and transferred to RFA Mounts Bay, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary Bay-class landing ship dock. The detainees and the seized cocaine were handed over to the crew of the Pelican and later detained at Coast Guard Sector St Petersburg in Florid.
The Jamaica Observer reports Capt Aldante Vinciguerra, chief of response, Coast Guard’s 7th District commenting: “This offload today is the result of the combined efforts of our partners and allied men and women who continue to work day and night to stop these criminal organisations from profiting off transnational crime and smuggling,”.
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Operation Caribbe is part of the umbrella operation, Operation Martillo. This is a multi-national anti-drug effort led by the United States to eliminate illicit trafficking in the Caribbean Sea, the eastern Pacific Ocean and the coastal areas of the Central American nations. The operation began on 15 January 2012.