Minister of National Security Stuart Young has heaped praises on the law enforcement services for their intervention in the multi-million dollar cocaine bust aboard a Spanish LNG tanker at the Atlantic Liquified Natural Gas port in Point Fortin on Wednesday.
“I was in contact with the Atlantic CEO and I want to thank the professionalism of the men and women in the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, the Marine Interdiction Unit of Customs and Excise and our Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. We had an operation that ran for possibly an eight-hour period with these suspicious packages and the area was cleared and these three divisions secured the packages throughout the day. The operation was a success and they managed to seize quite a lot of narcotics which appear to be cocaine from the testing last night (Wednesday),” Young said during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.
Young said he could not ascertain the value of the cocaine found on the Hispania Spirit shortly after 9 am on Wednesday. However, sources close to the investigation informed Guardian Media that the estimated street value was close to TT$120 million.
Customs sources said seven bales of cocaine were found attached to the rudder of the ship. The rudder is a big metal flap attached to the tail of the ship that assists in the steering of the vessel.
Sources close to the investigation said before the vessel’s departure, the captain was conducting safety checks when he saw what appeared to be suspicious packages in the rudder well area. The captain alerted an agent who later contacted the authorities. Coast Guard divers later retrieved the cocaine, which weighed some 200 kilogrammes.
Several foreign tankers enter the Atlantic port frequently to collect LNG before leaving for their destinations. Sources say they believe the drugs might have been placed at another port before it arrived in Trinidad and Tobago waters. However, a maritime tracker yesterday revealed the ship did not stop at any other destination before arriving in T&T.
However, this was not the first time the Hispania Spirit has been found with a hidden cocaine stash. On September 8, 2015, Coast Guard officials found 211 kilogrammes of cocaine in a compartment aboard the vessel in Pisco, Peru. Authorities later detained a Venezuelan national who didn’t belong to the crew.