US And Mexico Seize Massive Cocaine Payload In Rare Joint Drug Bust
U.S. and Mexican authorities carried out a rare joint operation in the Pacific Ocean, intercepting a vessel carrying several tons of cocaine, according to Mexican officials. The bust occurred near Clarion Island…
U.S. and Mexican authorities carried out a rare joint operation in the Pacific Ocean, intercepting a vessel carrying several tons of cocaine, according to Mexican officials.
The bust occurred near Clarion Island, roughly 680 miles from the Mexican port city of Manzanillo. Mexican authorities said about 188 packages of cocaine were recovered and some suspects were arrested during the operation, which involved both the U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican naval forces.
Photographs and video footage released by the Mexican military showed bundles laid out on the deck of a ship before being brought ashore.
“This seizure resulted from the exchange of information with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Joint Interagency Task Force South, and reaffirms bilateral cooperation to combat drug trafficking within a framework of coordination and full respect for national sovereignty,” the Security Cabinet of the Government of Mexico said in a statement.
The Coast Guard did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The drug bust unfolded just hours after a highly unusual temporary U.S. airspace closure in El Paso, Texas, which the Trump administration attributed to the incursion of Mexican cartel drones in U.S. airspace. Several outlets later