$822m worth of drugs seized in the Caribbean

(AP):

Law enforcement authorities in Europe announced today that $822 million worth of cocaine and other drugs have been seized in the Caribbean and Central America.



In the Interpol-led operation 142 arrests were made.



The European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol, supported the Interpol-led initiative dubbed "Operation Lionfish" targeting maritime drug and gun smugglers across the two regions.



The operation involved some 34 countries and territories, including some 20 Caribbean nations including Cuba and Jamaica and Central American states like Nicaragua and Panama.



The Netherlands-based Europol said coordination units were based at Interpol's bureau in El Salvador and the command center of the French West Indies Coast Guard on the island of Martinique.



During the weeks-long operation, authorities were able to share information and conduct speedy checks against the Interpol and Europol intelligence databases to cross-check suspicious vessels and cargo containers and then select them as targets to be tracked and boarded.



Patrols were conducted by land and sea.



Regional police, customs, immigration and naval forces participated in the international effort to combat organised crime groups behind narcotics and illicit weapons smuggling in the Caribbean and Central America.



Besides confiscating caches of drugs and making arrests, Europol said the operation targeting maritime smuggling by criminal networks also resulted in the seizure of 15 vessels, 42 guns, $170,000 in cash and eight tons of chemical precursors used to manufacture cocaine.



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