The cocaine confiscated by the patrol vessel Zr. Ms. Friesland and the St. Maarten Coast Guard unit on Thursday.
Dutch Navy personnel fishing the packages with drugs out of the water.
PHILIPSBURG--The Dutch patrol vessel Zr. Ms. Friesland in collaboration with the Coast Guard from St. Maarten intercepted more than 400 kilos of cocaine during a patrol in the Caribbean Sea on Thursday. The drugs were transferred to the Prosecutor in St. Maarten to be destroyed.
The Friesland operates as a station ship in the Caribbean. During a routine patrol, the ship approached what they called a suspicious boat with a Venezuelan flag in the Caribbean Sea. The boat was in a different position according to the Navy. The maritime NH90 helicopter followed the ship while the Friesland hailed the boat but it refused to stop.
The vessel tried to escape from the Coast Guard by picking up speed while members of the vessel threw several packages into the water. These packages were removed from the water by the Friesland’s interceptor boat and brought aboard the station ship. After an inspection, the packages were found to contain 406kg of cocaine.
The naval ship’s Commander Nicole Kuipers said, “The interception was excellent teamwork between the Zr. Ms. Friesland crew, the NH90 helicopter and members of the Coast Guard in St. Maarten.”
The suspect boat
Zr. Ms. Friesland is a sea patrol vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship will continue to patrol as a station ship until the end of November. In addition to counter-narcotics operations, the ship also performs rescue operations and humanitarian relief.
