Dutch Navy’s HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën, in collaboration with the Caribbean Coast Guard, intercepted around 600 kilos of cocaine north of the Venezuelan coast, March 5.
The intervention came shortly after the frigate’s first bust on its Caribbean deployment when the ship captured more than 400 kilograms of marijuana.
This time, drugs were seized from two Venezuelan fishing boats which were discovered by the patrol aircraft of the Caribbean Coastguard.
Just before sunrise, the navy ship and its embarked Alouette III helicopter from the Belgian Navy surprised the boats during a patrol. When the crews became aware that they had been seen, they threw the packages of drugs overboard. The crew of De Zeven Provinciën however managed to recover the majority of the contraband.
A total of 600 kilos of cocaine were seized while the smuggler boats and their crew were transferred to the Venezuelan Coast Guard.