Overview
- Intelligence-led air and maritime patrols tracked the tugboat on an unusual route before forcing a stop in the Pacific.
- Officials cited a total weight of about 13.5 tonnes for the cocaine, though some reports placed the haul near 12 tonnes.
- Investigators say the vessel departed Colombia’s Juradó/Buenaventura area bound for Mexico, a corridor that feeds the U.S. market.
- Ten crew members were detained — four Ecuadorians, three Nicaraguans, one Venezuelan, one Peruvian and one Colombian — and handed to prosecutors.
- SENAN characterized the operation as an unprecedented maritime blow, described by officials as among Panama’s biggest since 2008, with legal proceedings underway.