PANAMA City ( 1.5 tons of Cocaine Seized from Speed Boat -12 nautical miles from El Porvenir)

1.5 Tons of Cocaine Seized in Panama

PANAMA CITY – Panama’s Senan aero-naval force seized 1.5 tons of cocaine and arrested four Colombians in an operation carried out in the Caribbean Sea 12 nautical miles from El Porvenir, authorities said Monday.

The suspects were traveling in a speed boat that was spotted early Saturday morning by a helicopter and then intercepted by two patrol boats, Senan chief Belsio Gonzalez told a press conference.

The drug shipment was divided into 59 packets and authorities are not ruling out the possibility that it could be linked to the cartel operating in Colombia’s Gulf of Uraba, he said.

Gonzalez said that the intelligence departments of both the Colombian army and police have been contacted about the drug shipment.

So far in 2013, Senan has seized more than 10 tons of illegal drugs, half of it cocaine. EFE