Santa Marta, Colombia – On Monday morning, more than 60 nautical miles north of Santa Marta, units of the Colombian Navy, supported by the Colombian Aerospace Force, seized approximately two tons of cocaine hydrochloride from a merchant ship.

The joint operation lasted over 18 hours and was carried out following timely Naval Intelligence reports that a merchant vessel departing from Cartagena, Bolívar, and bound for Algeciras, Spain, may have been carrying illegal substances.

Protocols were immediately activated to protect the ship’s crew. The Aerospace Force deployed an aircraft from Combat Air Command No. 3 to monitor the vessel in real time, while a Rapid Reaction Unit from the Santa Marta Coast Guard inspected the high-seas ship. Investigators discovered 81 bales of suspected cocaine in one of the containers, believed to belong to a transnational criminal organization.

The seized material was transported to the Santa Marta Coast Guard dock and handed over to the Regional Anti-Narcotics Criminal Investigation Unit No. 8 of the National Police. A preliminary identification test confirmed the haul consisted of about two tons of cocaine hydrochloride, valued at roughly $200 million in the European market.

Authorities reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing military operations targeting illegal economies operated by Organized Armed Groups and transnational criminal networks.

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