President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador announced on Friday the seizure of 6.3 tons of cocaine and the arrest of 17 suspected drug traffickers following four operations conducted by the navy in the Pacific Ocean.
Describing the operations as “unprecedented,” Bukele reported that they took place between June 2 and June 10, approximately 1,000 nautical miles from the coast. Five vessels were intercepted and inspected, with drugs valued at $157.4 million discovered on four of them, according to a post by the president on his platform X.
The arrests included three Mexicans, one Colombian, three Guatemalans, and ten Ecuadorians. Bukele called this operation “one of the most significant blows to drug trafficking in El Salvador’s history.”
El Salvador, along with other Central American nations, serves as a transit route for drug trafficking organizations moving narcotics from Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador to the North American market. Official figures indicate that a total of 27.2 tons of drugs, primarily cocaine, were seized in El Salvador in 2024, with an estimated total value of $681.1 million.
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