The Mexican navy (Semar) announced on Sunday that it had confiscated a total of 3.3 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated 850 million pesos (US $41.9 million), in two separate operations off the coast of the southwestern state of Guerrero last week.
Also on Sunday, Semar reported it had seized 141 kilos of methamphetamine from a ship that was preparing to depart from the port of Veracruz on the Gulf Coast. According to the news outlet Infobae, the authorities found more than 3 million doses of meth valued at approximately 41.8 million pesos (US $2 million).
Marina asegura alrededor de 3 mil 340 kilogramos de presunta cocaína con valor de 851 mdp en Guerrerohttps://t.co/5tVBJHcvBm
— Milenio (@Milenio) November 25, 2024
Regarding the cocaine seizures, the online news site López-Dóriga Digital reported that Semar personnel were conducting a routine patrol in the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 20, when they spotted objects floating in the water about 180 nautical miles southwest of Acapulco, Guerrero. Upon closer inspection, the agents located 30 marked tubs.
The crew hauled the tubs onto their vessel and found about 1,554 kilograms of a white powdered substance similar to cocaine. Semar authorities notified the state and federal attorneys general before handing over the material to prosecutors.
The following day, another navy patrol boat found 45 additional marked packets floating in the ocean about 170 nautical miles southwest of Acapulco. These tubs yielded 1,786 kilograms of cocaine-like white powder, and they were turned over to the authorities assigned to the case, according to the newspaper El Imparcial.
“These actions are just a routine part of the sea, air and land surveillance that the navy carries out to suppress criminal activity and to provide security while upholding the rule of law within Mexico’s maritime zones,” the Semar said in a statement.
Last week’s incidents in the Pacific occurred in roughly the same area where the navy stopped a boat, confiscated 3.6 tonnes of drugs and arrested nine suspects three weeks ago.
In July, Semar seized 1.5 metric tons of cocaine in 45 packages that were floating in the ocean about 170 nautical miles south of Acapulco.
With reports from El Universal, López-Dóriga Digital, Infobae and El Imparcial
