El Salvador: Authorities Seize 800 Kilos Of Drugs And Arrest 6 Mexicans

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat

The Salvadoran Naval Force seized 800 kilograms of cocaine, valued at 20 million dollars, and arrested six Mexicans, President Nayib Bukele reported Wednesday night.

“This day, our Naval Force has made another drug seizure (…) they intercepted a boat with 6 Mexicans on board and 800 kilos of cocaine, valued at 20 million dollars,” the president posted on Twitter.

He added that “the drug traffickers carried an AK-47 with which they tried to attack our marines, who in return used legitimate defense, resulting in a drug trafficker wounded in the leg.”

The drug seizure took place in eastern El Salvador.

In 2021, the security authorities of El Salvador seized drugs valued at more than 270.9 million dollars, according to the government.

According to a 2020 report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), drug trafficking in Central America and the Caribbean contributes to increasing the already very high level of violence in the region due to the competitive struggle between criminal groups.

The INCB insists that “local gangs and international criminal groups continue to exploit” the Central American and Caribbean region “as a transit area and re-dispatch route for drugs from South America and destined for consumer markets in North America and Europe”. 

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