Mexico City, Nov 12, (dpa/GNA) – Panama’s security forces on Tuesday said, they intercepted a tugboat in the Pacific Ocean, carrying around 13.5 tons of cocaine.
During the operation near San José, an island off the coast of Panama, 10 men on board the vessel were arrested, according to the Panamanian National Aeronautical Service (Senan).
The find is considered the largest drug seizure off the coast of Panama since 2007, when 19 tons of cocaine were seized.
According to Senan, the boat was travelling north on an unusual sea route. Authorities said the vessel was bound for another Central American country and Mexico.
The crew attempted to evade capture and resisted arrest, authorities said. The drugs had been divided into more than 11,500 packages.
Four of the men on board were Ecuadorian, three were Nicaraguan and the other three were Venezuelan, Peruvian and Colombian. They were all handed over to the competent authorities.
In recent weeks, US forces have repeatedly sunk speedboats of suspected drug traffickers off the coast of Latin America, with dozens of people killed.
GNA