Cocaine Seized After Reportedly Being Stashed On Underway Container Vessel Headed From Guayaquil

January 07: The Ecuadorian Navy has reportedly seized 88 packages of an unspecified amount of cocaine hidden in four black suitcases in a container aboard the container vessel SEALAND LOS ANGELES (IMO #9383235).

Initial reports indicate that the cocaine was placed into the container early on January 07 by two armed persons who boarded the vessel while she was underway from Guayaquil, Ecuador and headed towards Balboa, Panama.

The vessel berthed at Puerto Bolivar (reports are unclear whether this was a scheduled stop ahead of the call to Panama) , where the container was offloaded and authorities seized the cocaine from it.

It is unclear how authorities found out about the narcotics, whether the vessel reported the alleged boarding, and what – if any – role any crew had in the incident.

Source: Fleetmon & World Maritime News