EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Mexican authorities acting on U.S. intelligence have seized two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean carrying tons of cocaine.
“Ships with drugs were intercepted yesterday and the day before by the navy. It was almost 7 tons of cocaine,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday. “Some of these vessels were on international waters. U.S. agencies that we are in communication with informed us and it was (our) Navy Secretariat that took action.”
The Navy Secretariat (SEMAR) later posted photos and a video of a floating submersible surrounded by Mexican patrol boats. The navy said the seizure happened 250 nautical miles south-southeast of the port of Manzanillo, Mexico.
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Public Safety Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said the “semisubmersible” carried 17 bags with 4 tons of cocaine in them. Three crew members are in Mexican custody.
“This represents a direct and (multimillion dollar) blow to the financial structures of organized crime, preventing millions of doses from reaching the streets and protecting” families, Garcia Harfuch tweeted.
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Mexican officials did not offer details on the second drug boat seized. But Garcia Harfuch said his country has seized more than 10 tons of cocaine in the past week alone…