BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 8th November 2019)-Earlier this week, a boat was found in the Sandy Point community with close to 300 pounds of cocaine worth more than EC $12 million, police say.
It has been reported that members of the security forces seized the 136 kilos of drugs following a search carried out on a yacht that ran aground on Sunday 3rd November 2019.
Reportedly, the street value of the cocaine is estimated at over $12 million Eastern Caribbean Dollars.
According to the local authorities, the yacht, which was taken to the Coast Guard base, was searched by members of the security forces the next day (Monday) and just over 120 packages of cocaine had been discovered.
A source at the Police Public Relations Department has informed that: “The find was only possible because members of the public said something when they saw something out-of-the-norm. A joint response was made following a report that a yacht had run aground at Pump Bay, Sandy Point.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) with responsibility for Operations Adolph Adams thanks the community residents for their vigilance in what has been described as one of the largest seizures in St.Kitts-Nevis.
“I would like to commend our officers in the Anti-Narcotics Unit, the Special Services Unit (SSU), Customs, and the Defence Force and Coast Guard for their courageous effort in effecting this operation. In recent times, we’ve had a number of reports of vessels entering the waters of the federation and conducting illegal transactions. We have to be relentless and aggressive in protecting our borders as best as we can. We have to thank the members of the Sandy Point community for being forthcoming with the information that led to the seizure which I am told is one of the largest cocaine busts in the federation. Presently, a suspect is at large and being sought by the police as investigations into this matter are ongoing. Anyone having any useful information in relation to this matter are asked to call anonymously,” ACP Adams said.
Persons with information regarding this incident are asked to contact the Sandy Point Police Station at 465-6261, the nearest Police Station or the crime hotline at 707.