MEXICO CITY: The Mexican navy announced on Friday it had seized more than 8.3 tonnes of drugs in the Pacific Ocean, a record for a single operation at sea.

“Navy personnel seized 8,361 kilograms of illicit cargo, which represents the largest amount of drugs seized in a maritime operation, unprecedented in history,” said a statement from the Ministry of the Navy. It did not specify the type of the drugs, but said they were valued at 2.099 billion pesos (about $105 million).

Twenty-three people were arrested during the bust which took place southwest of the port of Lazaro Cardenas, off the western coast of Mexico. The drugs were distributed in six small boats and one of the vessels was a submersible, which implied a “complex” action on the part of the sailors, added the ministry.

The largest drug seizure in Mexico’s history was 23 tonnes of Colombian cocaine in November 2007. Mexico has for decades been the hub of drug trafficking to the United States, with a large number of cartels fighting for control of the trade.

The state of Michoacan, off the coast of which the seizure took place, is the scene of clashes between criminal gangs, including the powerful Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent criminal groups.

The latest raid reported on Friday was carried out “days ago” by surface units backed by a helicopter, the ministry said.

Some 8,700 liters of fuel, another of the illicit trades controlled by drug cartels, were also found on the raided vessels.

On August 23, authorities reported they had impounded about seven tonnes of drugs in two separate operations in the same area of the country.

The Mexican navy, which conducts surveillance operations on a permanent basis, has discovered all kinds of drug shipments, including one of cocaine stuffed in 217 barrels of chili sauce in 2016.

Mexico has for decades been a drug trafficking route to the United States, which has sparked disputes between different narco groups. The country’s first woman president Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on October 1, faces a major challenge to tackle the drug cartels and related crimes.

She has pledged to stick with her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” strategy of using social policy to tackle crime at its roots.

Across Mexico, more than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing in a spiral of violence since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2024