Once ashore, detainees were given a coronavirus COVID-19 test.
WILLEMSTAD--The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard intercepted a speedboat near Curaçao with twelve smugglers, 1,050 kilos of cocaine and 275 kilos of marijuana on board. They fired shots to stop the vessel and injured one occupant who had to be treated urgently in the hospital.
The confiscated bales.
The “go-fast” was spotted last Thursday and they suspected it had contraband. The crew did not respond to stop signals, after which several warning salvos were fired from a helicopter. In the end, according to the Ministry of Defence, the engines were disabled “with a few targeted shots.”
The boat began to sink and those on board were rescued and 45 packages containing the combined 1,325 kilograms of drugs were also fished out of the water.
The suspects have been handed over to the local police and the wounded smuggler was rushed to hospital by helicopter.
Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas, who is also Justice Minister, paid a visit to the Coast Guard base in the middle of the night and later posted photos of the many bales of drugs seized, on his Facebook page. He called it a beautiful and successful action by the coastal law enforcement agency, which cooperated with the Police Corps KPC and Immigration Service of the island.
