Mexico: Navy seizes drugs worth more than $100 million

Authorities said it was the largest quantity of drugs seized in a maritime operation. Some 23 people were arrested.

Mexico's navy on Friday made its largest-ever drug bust, seizing 8.4 tonnes of unspecified drugs valued at more than 2 billion pesos ($100 million, €91.95 million).

"This represents the largest quantity of drugs seized in a maritime operation, without precedent in the history of the institution," the navy said in a statement.

Authorities also arrested 23 people, while seizing 8,700 liters of fuel and six boats in the operation that occurred off the Pacific coast near the port city of Lazaro Cardenas.

The drugs had been distributed among the six boats, one of which was a "submersible" which implies a "complex" drug trafficking operation.

Drug trafficking fueling violence

This latest haul marks a victory in Mexico's ongoing fight against drug trafficking, as the country remains a key transit point for narcotics headed to the United States.

The drug trade has also fueled violent turf wars between various drug cartels vying for control.

The city of Lazaro Cardenas, off the coast of which the seizure took place, is in Michoacan state and within the turf of the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful and violent criminal groups.

Since 2006, when Mexico deployed the army to address drug trafficking more than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands still missing.

Meanwhile, though Friday's bust was substantial, the largest in Mexico's history remains the 23-tonne seizure of Colombian cocaine in November 2007.

ss/jcg (AFP, Reuters)