El Salvador seized packages containing 1.4 tons of cocaine floating in the Pacific Ocean, President Nayib Bukele said Tuesday, calling it a strike “against international drug trafficking.”
The shipment was found approximately 1,000 miles southwest of El Cordoncillo at the mouth of the Jaltepeque estuary on El Salvador’s Pacific coast, he said, in a social media post that included images of the seizure.
The seizure comes as President Donald Trump has declared war on Latin American drug traffickers and designated cartels foreign terrorist organizations.
El Salvador seized packages containing 1.4 tons of cocaine floating in the Pacific Ocean, President Nayib Bukele said Tuesday, calling it a strike
International criminal cartels use Central America as a gateway for drug trafficking, especially cocaine, to the United States.
The Salvadoran president said the floating packages were valued at $35 million.
Between 2024 and 2025, El Salvador seized 37.2 tons of cocaine with an estimated value of $932.4 million, Bukele added.
The U.S. embassy in El Salvador praised the operation, emphasizing that “each successful action against criminal networks shows that there is a growing synchrony between partners with common goals.”
Washington estimates that 90 percent of cocaine reaching the United States passes through Mexico and Central America via small planes, boats and “narco subs”
Mr. Trump has sent several warships towards Venezuela, accusing the government of being part of the drug trade, and ordered a missile strike on a suspected drug boat, killing 11 people.Â
Mr. Trump said the attack targeted members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-based organized crime group that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
Last week Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S. will keep assets positioned in the Caribbean and strike anyone “trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco terrorist.”
The U.S. is also sending 10 F-35 fighter jets to the Caribbean for operations targeting drug cartels, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to CBS News last week.
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