A patrol from the Regional Directorate of Aquatic Spaces and Insular Coast Guard seized the Pedalex fishing vessel in the Galapagos Islands with 24 occupants and 10 jute bags containing alleged illicit substances. The State Attorney General’s Office confirmed on the afternoon of this Saturday, September 26, that the joint operation together with the Ecuadorian Navy and the National Police left a balance of 300 kilos of cocaine seized and 24 detainees.
The operation was carried out on the morning of Friday, September 25, 2020, 200 nautical miles southeast of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on San Cristóbal Island. The drug was found after the patrol intercepted one of the eight tow fibers that the fishing vessel was towing, the Navy reported in a statement. The ship had sailed from the city of Manta (Manabí) on September 16, 2020.
The boat and those apprehended were placed under the orders of the Prosecutor’s Office, and are awaiting the flagrante delicto hearing. The arrest was carried out “thanks to the intelligence work” of the Navy and the Police, through their special Units, the Unit for the Fight against Organized Crime and the National Unit for Investigation of Transnational Crimes.
This content has been originally published by Diario EL COMERCIO at the following address: https: //www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/armada-barco-pesquero-galapagos-cocaina.html.
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