KRALENDIJK – Saturday in the late afternoon, the Coast Guard detected a suspicious vessel sailing towards Curaçao. The Maritime Operations Center (MOC) immediately sent the Dash aircraft into the air to locate the vessel in question.

The Metal Shark-01 patrol boat was also sent out to intercept the vessel in question. In the meantime, the suspicious vessel had changed direction and was sailing towards the southern coast of Bonaire.

The Multidisciplinary Maritime Hub Bonaire (MMHB), a collaboration between the KPCN, KMAR, OLB, KWCarib and Customs to keep Bonaire’s maritime borders safe through joint planning, then sent out the Customs patrol boat, with a Coast Guard patrol on board, to assist in the interception.

After a chase in Bonaire’s territorial waters, the Coast Guard decided to aim fire at the vessel’s engines to disable it. They determined that the vessel was probably carrying narcotics. The suspected vessel was then brought to the coast of Bonaire by the MS-01.

Cocaine

As soon as the vessel had arrived at the coast, the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force (KPCN) launched an investigation which showed that it actually involved narcotics. A quantity of 1280 kg of cocaine was seized and immediately destroyed. Four people have been arrested in connection with this case. A 29-year-old man with initials R.G., a 52-year-old man with initials R.A.G., a 39-year-old man with initials J.R. and a 45-year-old man with initials A.V. Investigation into the case is ongoing.