7.1 tons of cocaine seized in the Caribbean, 11 people arrested unharmed, says Colombian Navy

More than seven tons of cocaine have been seized from ships in the Caribbean in recent days, the Colombian Navy said, as the United States continues to carry out deadly attacks against suspected vessels transporting drugs in the region.

Authorities seized about 7.1 tons of cocaine during two operations in the Caribbean, the country’s navy said in a social media post on Wednesday. One interdiction took place 90 nautical miles from Barranquilla, a city on Colombia’s northern coast, and the other occurred about 70 miles south in the Gulf of Morrosquillo.

The cocaine was valued at more than $340 million and 11 people – eight Colombians, two Venezuelans and one Jamaican – were arrested “without affecting their integrity or their lives,” the Navy said in a separate statement.

Authorities released images of the operations, showing photographs of the boats involved, as well as bricks of suspected narcotics displayed on the ground next to the officers and detained suspects.

The seizures come as Colombian President Gustavo Petro is calling on the United States to end attacks in the region against ships apparently transporting drugs. The United States announced another strike Thursday in the Pacific Ocean that the Pentagon says killed four people.

Since September, the US military has launched at least 22 attacks against vessels in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean that the Trump administration claims, without providing further evidence, are smuggling drugs. So far, at least 87 people have been killed in the attacks.

The latest attack comes as Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth faces scrutiny in the wake of a recent Washington Post report. for a ship strike on September 2 in the caribbean that killed 11 people. The report claimed that the US military attacked the ship with two missiles, a revelation confirmed by the White House. A source familiar with the matter. told News themezone on Wednesday that the second attack occurred as two people who survived the first missile were trying to get back on the ship. According to the source, the survivors were allegedly trying to recover some of the drugs. Some lawmakers have questioned whether the second strike constitutes a war crime.

in a exclusive conversation with News themezone In October, Petro said some of those killed in the US attacks were innocent civilians and reiterated his charge that the attacks violate international law.

The White House denies those allegations and President Trump has defended the attacks as a legitimate part of his fight against drug gangs.

Earlier this week, the family of a Colombian who died in a US military attack on a ship in the Caribbean he filed a complaint against the United States before a human rights watchdog, arguing that his death was an extrajudicial execution.