A cargo of about five tonnes of cocaine was seized in Panamanian waters aboard a semi-submersible, the National Naval Aviation Service (Senan) of Panama announced on Wednesday (February 19th). Four Colombians were arrested in the operation, which took place 300 km northwest of Panama City, on the Caribbean coast of Bocas del Toro province, bordering Costa Rica.
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The semi-submersible, "handcrafted", is the "first boat of this type and of such a drug carrying capacity" detected in Panama, according to the Panamanian prosecution.
On one of the videos published by the Senan on the operation, we see a boat of which only the upper part emerges from the water. Another video shows the semi-submersible, gray, moored to a pontoon.
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Panama - on the traffic route from South America, especially Colombian, to the United States - achieved a record drug seizure last year with a total of nearly 91 tonnes, of which 77, 9 tonnes of cocaine and 12.9 tonnes of marijuana, said the Panamanian prosecution.
On Saturday, Costa Rica also announced a record seizure of more than five tonnes of cocaine, hidden in a container of ornamental plants destined for the Dutch port of Rotterdam.
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