Dominican Republic seizes cocaine from speedboat struck by US Navy

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said Sunday they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the U.S. Navy. —Dominican Republic's National Directorate for Drug Control

BOGOTA—Authorities in the Dominican Republic said on Sunday they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the US Navy, as the Trump administration carries out a controversial antinarcotics mission in the southern Caribbean.

In a press conference, the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate for Drug Control said it recovered 377 packages of cocaine from the boat which was allegedly carrying 1,000 kilograms of the drug.

Isla Beata

Officials said the boat was destroyed about 148 kilometers (80 nautical miles) south of Isla Beata, a small island that belongs to the Dominican Republic. They said the Dominican’s Republic Navy worked in conjunction with US authorities to locate the speedboat which was allegedly trying to dock in the Dominican Republic and use the nation as a “bridge” to transport cocaine to the United States.

“This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean,” the directorate said in a statement.

‘Extrajudicial’

In August, the United States sent eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean, in what the Trump administration has said was a mission to fight drug trafficking.

The White House says the flotilla has destroyed three speedboats carrying drugs so far in separate strikes that have killed more than a dozen people aboard the vessels.

Human rights groups have said the strikes on the boats amount to extrajudicial killings, and on Friday two Democratic senators introduced a resolution in Congress that seeks to block the administration from carrying out further strikes.

‘Cartel of the Suns’

The Trump administration says at least two of the boats that have been sunk left from Venezuela, whose president is often described by White House officials as a drug trafficker and leader of a gang known as the Cartel of the Suns.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denies the charges and has described the US naval buildup in the Caribbean as an attack on his country.