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1 Marshall Islands Police Captain Eric Jorban, (left), empties one-kilo packages of cocaine into an incinerator in Majuro in the Marshall Islands.
MAJURO, Marshall Islands: Marshall Islands police have found the Pacific nation s largest-ever haul of cocaine in an abandoned boat that washed up on a remote atoll after drifting on the high seas, potentially for years.
Attorney General Richard Hickson said the 5.5-metre fibreglass vessel was found at Ailuk atoll last week with 649kg of cocaine hidden in a compartment beneath the deck.
Hickson said the vessel most likely drifted across the Pacific from Central or South America. It could have been drifting for a year or two, he said.
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Ghost boat laden with cocaine washes up in the Marshall Islands
Abandoned vessel containing 649kg of drug washes up on a remote Pacific atoll after potentially years at sea
The boat washed up on Ailuk atoll, a remote atoll with about 400 people, in the Marshall Islands last week. Photograph: Marshall Islands police department /AFP/Getty Images
The boat washed up on Ailuk atoll, a remote atoll with about 400 people, in the Marshall Islands last week. Photograph: Marshall Islands police department /AFP/Getty Images
AgenceFrance-Presse
Wed 16 Dec 2020 12.37 EST
Last modified on Wed 16 Dec 2020 14.04 EST
Police in the Marshall Islands have found the Pacific nation’s largest-ever haul of cocaine in an abandoned boat that washed up on a remote atoll after drifting on the high seas, potentially for years.
Giff Johnson, Editor, Marshall Islands Journal / RNZ Pacific correspondent
Marshall Islands police have destroyed over 635 kilogrammes of cocaine after the cache of drugs drifted into a remote atoll.
Marshall Islands Police Captain Eric Jorban, left, empties a bag of one-kilo packages of cocaine into an incinerator
Photo: RNZ Pacific / Giff Johnson
Police said the discovery last week was the largest volume of cocaine to ever wash into the Marshall Islands, which has seen hundreds of kilos of cocaine found near multiple islands over the past two decades. The drug haul has an estimated street value of over $US80 million. A local resident on Ailuk discovered a boat with 649 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine, said Attorney General Richard Hickson, who praised community members at Ailuk for immediately notifying law enforcement about the drug discovery.