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A ghost ship, unmanned, with more than 600 kg of cocaine was found adrift off the coast of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, local police said on Tuesday (15).
The drug was hidden in 649 packages of approximately one kilo, stored in the hull of a fishing boat. There are no records of the origin of this vessel.
On Thursday (17), the anti-drug authorities confirmed that 647 bricks of cocaine were incinerated; two were sent to the DEA, the US authority, for investigation.
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The cocaine shipment was incinerated on December 17, 2020 in the Marshall Islands – Photo: Playback / Marshall Islands Police Department
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The estimated value of the destroyed cargo is US $ 80 million (around R $ 407 million). According to local radio RNZ, this is already the largest cocaine shipment seized in the Marshall Islands.
The drifting boat was found by a resident of Ailuk, the northernmost island of the archipelago, who reported the discovery to regional authorities.
Earlier this year, a man was arrested in Ailuk for attempting to carry three kilos of cocaine on a plane trip.
A ghost ship was found adrift off the coast of the Marshall Islands in Oceania – Photo: Marshall Islands Police Department / AFP
The nation’s attorney, Richard Hickson, asked residents to report any irregular shipments found within the territory.
He said he believed the ship had been adrift for about two years before being found off the coast of the Marshall Islands.
The Marshall Islands are an independent territory associated with the United States. They are made up of 29 atolls and have an estimated population of 60,000 inhabitants.
