Dutch, US forces seize cocaine in Caribbean

Fri Aug 22, 2008 1:20 PM EDT

world-news, cocaine, caribbean, dutch-navy

Andrew O. Selsky, Associated Press Writer

Images

(showing 1 of 2 photos)

SAN JUAN — The Dutch Navy and a squad of U.S. Coast Guard raiders seized 4.6 tons (4,200 kilograms) of cocaine from a Panamanian-flagged freighter that had set sail from Venezuela, Dutch and U.S. officials said Friday.

The Dutch Navy said it is the largest haul of cocaine it has ever intercepted.

"This seizure underlines the excellent cooperation between all our partners in the region and once again confirms the importance of our presence in the Caribbean," said Rear Adm. Peter Lenselink, the commander of Netherlands Forces in the Caribbean.

The Dutch Navy said its regional headquarters in Curacao received information last week that a Panamanian freighter might be smuggling drugs from Venezuela to Europe. A Dutch coast guard vessel, with about a half-dozen members of a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment aboard, was dispatched to intercept the freighter.

At dawn on Sunday, the Dutch frigate and its helicopter approached the freighter at high speed in the Caribbean south of Puerto Rico on Sunday, the Dutch Navy said.

A U.S. Coast Guard team boarded and began searching. Thirty-six hours later, it discovered a suspicious hatch inside the engine room, with bales of cocaine secreted in several compartments.

U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachments have been embedding with forces of allied countries to seize drug shipments through the Caribbean, a major trafficking corridor, said Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami.

She said the Americans were still aboard the Dutch ship, along with the detained freighter crew and the seized cocaine.

0 Votes
Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Published to:

Andrew O. Selsky's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: none
Regions: Venezuela , United States , Puerto Rico , Netherlands

Public Discussion (2)

What's this?

Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

0.5