Specialized personnel of the Argentine Naval Prefecture seized 16 kilos of cocaine aboard the vessel Grande Amburgo, an Italian-flagged Ro-Ro and container ship that was docked at the Zárate Terminal, in the Province of Buenos Aires.
The operation originated once the ship arrived at the port, where a control was deployed led by specialists from the local office and different areas of the national Maritime Authority, accompanied by personnel from the Agency for Revenue and Customs Control (Arca).
During an interview, the ship’s captain stated that, after departing from the Port of Montevideo, he learned that a crew member had found a bag containing “bricks” of a suspicious substance in an area intended for loading motorhome-type vehicles.
In this regard, the person in charge of the vessel had submitted a written report denouncing the situation, after securing the find inside his cabin along with photographic material and film recordings.
During the inspection, it was verified that it was a white burlap bag containing 14 packages of cocaine hydrochloride, with a total weight of 16 kilograms and an estimated value exceeding 340 million pesos.
It should be noted that the substance (on the outer wrapping and in relief on the bricks) was identified with the inscription Formula 1-F1. During the search of the vessel, five other empty burlap bags of similar characteristics were found in another cargo area.
The Federal Court of Campana – Criminal Division No. 3 was notified of the fact, which ordered the seizure of the drug, the collection of expert evidence, witness statements, and the extraction of film recordings from security cameras. No restrictive measures were taken against the crew, made up of 32 people of different nationalities.
The 214-meter-long vessel was inspected by authorities of the Port State Control, who ordered its preventive detention with operational restrictions.
