£100,000,000 Worth Of Cocaine Seized In Shocking Footage
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Featured Image Credit: @ArmadaDeColombia/Facebook/Alamy
Authorities in Colombia have seized four tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of $145,000,000 from a submarine thought to have been heading to Central America.
Four men were arrested by members of the Colombian navy after officers intercepted the huge vessel in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, February 6, around 70 miles from the Nariño port city of Tumaco, Colombia.
Footage taken from the bust was shared on Facebook this week, showing officers pointing a gun into the submarine and exploring inside the vessel, as well as hundreds of parcels of cocaine laid out on the floor.
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The four men arrested on Sunday included an Ecuadorean man identified as Jorge PB, who is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, and three Colombian nationals.
The suspects were turned over to the Attorney General’s Office and are charged with the trafficking, manufacture or carrying of narcotics, as well as the use, construction, commercialisation and possession of semi-submersibles or submersibles, Metro reports.
Officers found the cocaine had been split into 4,000 plastic bundles that were wrapped and placed in 200 large bags. The narcotics are said to have belonged to a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) known as the Alfonso Cano Western Bloc.
The bust marked the biggest the navy has had in the past two years, and comes after Colombia launched a new strategy to fight drug trafficking that is aimed at controlling cyberspace to tackle criminal groups and block their financial transactions, according to Defence Minister Diego Molano.
Commenting on the new initiative, Molano said, 'We hope to develop new and innovative tactics in the coming years in the fight against the global scourge of drugs.’
Dubbed the ‘Esmeralda’ initiative, the strategy will receive support from 36 countries, including the United States, while crime-fighting agencies around the world are set to increase their cyber presence, including with the use of undercover agents, to tackle the distribution of drugs online.
Interceptado semisumergible cuando navegaba en costas nariñenses transportando cuatro toneladas de cocaína.
— Armada de Colombia (@ArmadaColombia) February 8, 2022
Más información 👉🏻 https://t.co/fHrQRFfAWC pic.twitter.com/m2JVGkC2b8
At least five tonnes of drugs are said to have been able to fit on the submarine, which the Colombian navy said had a diesel engine and was worth approximately half a million dollars. The vessels are said to be 'commonly used by drug trafficking organisations to send larger amounts of illicit drugs to Mexican cartels' because they are capable of holding such vast amounts.
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Topics: News, Drugs, World News
