{"id":9074,"date":"2025-05-07T19:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=9074"},"modified":"2025-05-07T19:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:02:15","slug":"underwater-drone-helps-customs-seize-120kg-cocaine-from-bulk-carrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=9074","title":{"rendered":"Underwater Drone Helps Customs Seize 120kg Cocaine From Bulk Carrier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Underwater Drone Helps Customs Seize 120kg Cocaine From Bulk Carrier<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-300x157.png?resize=300%2C157&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"Underwater Drone Helps Customs Seize 120kg Cocaine From Bulk Carrier\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;margin-right:10px;width:150px; height:150px;float:left;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-1024x536.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-768x402.png 768w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-150x79.png 150w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1868935\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1868935\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1868935\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier.png?resize=1200%2C628\" alt=\"bulk carrier\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-1024x536.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-768x402.png 768w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulk-carrier-150x79.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1868935\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Credits: HM Govt of Gibraltar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>HM Customs in Gibraltar intercepted 120 kilograms of cocaine hidden on a bulk carrier earlier this week. The ship, M\/V Great Zhou, sails under the Panamanian flag and had arrived in Gibraltar waters after departing from Santos, Brazil.<\/p>\n<p>The vessel had called in to Gibraltar for bunkering.<\/p>\n<p>On the evening of April 30, officers from HM Customs Marine Section carried out a detailed search of the ship using a recently acquired underwater drone. The search continued through the night into the early hours of May 1.<\/p>\n<p>During the inspection, officers found four suspicious packages stored in the ship\u2019s port-side sea chest. These packages were retrieved and taken aboard HMC Sentinel to the Customs Marine Base.<\/p>\n<p>Upon opening them, officials confirmed they contained a total of 120 kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ys9YeOUvpHA?si=e1GUTIJvLFGx3q_k\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After the discovery, Customs officers interviewed the entire crew and conducted a full search of the vessel. Once the process was complete, the ship was released. However, investigations are still ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities believe that Gibraltar was not the intended final destination for the drugs. Still, the operation successfully prevented a large quantity of illegal drugs from reaching their destination and disrupted the financial gains of drug traffickers.<\/p>\n<p>Officials stated that the use of the underwater drone, which was purchased in December 2024, played a vital role in the successful detection.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1868936\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1868936\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1868936\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cocaine.png?resize=1200%2C628\" alt=\"cocaine\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cocaine.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cocaine-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cocaine-1024x536.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cocaine-768x402.png 768w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cocaine-150x79.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1868936\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Credits: HM Govt of Gibraltar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to reports, John Payas, the Collector of Customs, praised the officers involved for their determination in handling such complex work.<\/p>\n<p>He also acknowledged the support from the Gibraltar Port Authority\u2019s Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), who helped coordinate the vessel\u2019s movements in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.<\/p>\n<p>Gibraltar\u2019s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, congratulated HM Customs for what he described as another successful outcome in the fight against organised crime.<\/p>\n<p>He said the government had made significant investments in HM Customs to support their mission against drug-related crimes- investments that are now showing clear results not only for Gibraltar but also for the countries where such drugs might be headed.<\/p>\n<p><em>Reference: HM Government of Gibraltar<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    MI News Network<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/shipping-news\/underwater-drone-helps-customs-seize-120kg-cocaine-from-bulk-carrier\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=underwater-drone-helps-customs-seize-120kg-cocaine-from-bulk-carrier\">Go to marine insight<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Underwater Drone Helps Customs Seize 120kg Cocaine From Bulk Carrier Image Credits: HM Govt of Gibraltar HM Customs in Gibraltar intercepted 120 kilograms of cocaine hidden on a bulk carrier earlier this week. The ship, M\/V Great Zhou, sails under the Panamanian flag and had arrived in Gibraltar waters after departing from Santos, Brazil. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,196],"tags":[197],"class_list":["post-9074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marine-insight","category-shipping-news","tag-marine-insight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}