Cocaine Seizure Reveals Maritime Cartel Routes into Southern Mexico

Cartel Boat
Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles

MORELIA, Michoacan — The seizure of more than 1,200 kilograms (2,500 pounds) of cocaine off the coast of Michoacan demonstrates a route being used by cartels to move drugs from Central America into Mexico via speedboats. The seizure is the third of its kind since the beginning of the year.

Mexican Navy officials recently seized a speedboat off the coast of Michoacan, about 90 nautical miles from the Port of Lazaro Cardenas. Inside, authorities found 32 bundles with an approximate weight of 1,269 kilograms. The seizure was the result of a series of investigations that ended with the raid, where the Mexican Navy deployed various ships and a helicopter to intercept the speedboat. Sailors rappelled from the helicopter into the boat to arrest the crew. Six were Mexican nationals while two others were from Ecuador.

The seizure comes weeks after Mexico’s Navy arrested five men moving more than a ton of cocaine off the coast of Acapulco, Guerrero, and a similar bust near the same area where authorities arrested 14 smugglers moving a ton of cocaine and a human body.

Mexican law enforcement information shared with Breitbart Texas revealed the new routes start in the port city of Manta, Ecuador. From there, smugglers set up various fueling stations along the way to get the drugs into major ports in Mexico.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo León and other areas to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Jose Luis Lara, a former leading member who helped start the Self-Defense Movement in Michoacán.

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