U.S., Mexico, El Salvador Announce Major Maritime Cocaine Seizures Totaling Over 10 Tons

The navies of Mexico and El Salvador announced big drug seizures in the Pacific Ocean this week of more than 10 tons of cocaine, while U.S. authorities arrested a crewmember and seized 500 pounds of cocaine from an oil tanker at the Port of Los Angeles. The seizures include El Salvador's largest drug bust on record, a Mexican narco-submarine interception, and the tanker bust.

On Sunday, El Salvador's navy announced the largest drug seizure in the country's history of 6.6 tons of cocaine. The navy had intercepted a 180-foot boat registered to Tanzania, 380 miles southwest of the coast. Navy divers found 330 packages of cocaine hidden in the boat's ballast tanks. Ten men were arrested from Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador. On Thursday, Salvadoran authorities gave access to the seized ship FMS Eagle, which had just arrived in the port of La Union. Images released by the navy showed more than 200 wrapped bundles lined up on the deck.

The latest announcement came Thursday, when Mexico said it had seized about four tons of suspected drugs and detained three people from a semisubmersible craft, or so-called "narco sub," 250 nautical miles south of the port of Manzanillo. Mexican authorities said the seizure was made with intelligence shared by U.S. Northern Command and the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South. Mexico's security secretary said the seizure brought the weekly total to nearly 10 tons, describing it as "a direct and multimillion-dollar blow to the financial structures of organized crime."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, working with the U.S. Coast Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, seized 227 kg of cocaine and arrested a Philippine national crewmember from a Greek-owned tanker after it anchored at the Port of Los Angeles. The crude oil tanker Aquatravesia (133,000 dwt), registered in Liberia, was northbound from Ecuador, where it had departed on May 8. Crewmembers discovered numerous packages hidden in the ship's garbage room that contained the suspected narcotics. The captain was informed of the discovery, took control of the packages, and notified U.S. authorities. The captain interviewed the crewmembers, and a 43-year-old Filipino working on the ship, Ceasar Tubay Gelacio, confessed to possessing the drugs. Gelacio has been charged with importation of a controlled substance and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison if convicted.

According to court documents, the cocaine was "intended to be delivered to a Mexican drug cartel." The plan was for the cartel to send an armed small boat to a position 80 nautical miles from shore, with the tanker to meet the boat on the evening of May 14 or the morning of May 15. The tanker was told that if it failed to make the handover, the cartel would chase down the vessel while still in Mexican waters and retake the contraband. The captain also reported receiving what he believed were radio calls from the cartel attempting to hail the tanker prior to a boarding or takeover. U.S. law enforcement directed the Aquatravesia to the Port of Los Angeles, where agents boarded the tanker on Thursday, May 21. Homeland Security used a detection canine to confirm the drugs, seizing 500 pounds (approximately 226 kg) of cocaine worth about $6.4 million.

The U.S. administration has pressured Mexico to make more drug seizures over the past year, with fentanyl trafficking cited as justification for tariffs on Mexican imports. Mexico's president has responded with a more aggressive stance toward drug cartels, including sending dozens of drug trafficking prisoners to the United States for prosecution, and has expressed disagreement with U.S. military strikes against suspected drug boats. At least 145 people have been killed in those strikes since the U.S. government began targeting what it calls "narcoterrorists" last September; the strikes this week killed 11 people on three boats. Earlier this week, the U.S. Coast Guard seized over 2,000 pounds of cocaine while attempting to intercept a drug-trafficking boat off Puerto Rico, after the crew began evasive maneuvers and threw cargo overboard.