Mexican Navy personnel seized more than 8.3 tons of drugs off the southwest coast of Michoacan, marking the largest drug seizure in a maritime operation conducted by the institution, Navy officials announced.
The operation also resulted in the confiscation of approximately 8,700 liters of fuel, the arrest of 23 suspects, and the seizure of six small vessels.
With the support of a Mexican Navy Panther helicopter, naval agents located the first vessel. Upon spotting the agents, the eight-member crew threw overboard packages marked with buoys, which were later found to contain illicit cargo.
Navy personnel then intercepted the vessel, arresting the individuals and seizing 94 packages of alleged illicit cargo weighing approximately 2,105 kilograms, along with 38 fuel drums containing an estimated 1,250 liters.
Later, a second vessel was seized. Three crew members were arrested and the seizure included 125 drums with approximately 5,950 liters of fuel and 49 abandoned packages of suspected illicit cargo weighing 1,102 kilograms.
A third vessel was seized off the coast of Guerrero. It contained 40 packages of alleged illicit cargo weighing 1,200 kilograms and 24 fuel drums totaling around 400 liters.
The fourth vessel seized was a semi-submersible that was approximately 15 meters long. The vessel contained 93 packages of suspected drugs weighing 2,179 kilograms, along with fuel drums.
Finally, the fifth and sixth vessels were seized, with six crew members on board. These carried 75 packages of suspected illicit material weighing 1,774 kilograms, and 950 liters of fuel.
23 individuals were arrested overall. The seized items, per authorities, represent a loss of more than 2.099 billion Mexican pesos – or around $104.7 million – to criminal organizations. Official reports do not indicate which types of drugs were seized.
For context, the largest drug seizure in Mexico's history was 23 tons of Colombian cocaine in November 2007, per CBS News.
According to global intelligence company Intelyse, Michoacan's geographic conditions make it an ideal location for importing, producing, and trafficking illegal narcotics, like marijuana and opium.
With the diversification of the drug market and changes in drug demand, Michoacan ports have become perfect entry points for methamphetamine, synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, as well as precursor chemicals smuggled from China, Intelyse experts say.
Michoacán has long been home to violent criminal organizations including Los Zetas, The Knights Templar, and La Familia Michoacana. While the groups' names have changed over the years, the violence levels have remained high in the state.
More than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing in Mexico since the government launched its "war on drugs" and deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.
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