Authorities from Guyana have conducted their largest-ever seizure of Cocaine, taking over 8,000 pounds of the drug from a jungle near the Venezuelan border. Police arrested one suspect of being involved in the attempted smuggling and are looking for two more who fled the scene.
Security Minister Robeson Benn told reporters he estimates the drugs are worth about $200 million. The drugs were located near a clandestine airstrip and taken before they could be sent to Europe, according to a customs official.
Traffickers had dug holes in the ground and stashed the packages there before covering them with wooden planks. Authorities had also found makeshift submersible vessels in the area in recent months.
It is unclear whether the so-called "narco subs" were used to transport this cocaine in particular, but Interpol said one of them was capable of transporting as much as 3 tons of cocaine at a time. These vessels, which can't fully go underwater, are popular among drug-traffickers given their ability to remain undetected by authorities.
According to Guyana's police and military, the U.S.'s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was involved in the seizure. "We are happy that we have the DEA with us sharing information and intelligence," said Benn, the Defense Minister. "Guyana is a victim of this ... illegal activity. We don't produce cocaine; we don't transit it."
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