Dominican Republic says it seized cocaine that was on speedboat destroyed by U.S. Navy
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- Dominican authorities say they have recovered more than 2,200 pounds of cocaine from a speedboat that the U.S. Navy had destroyed.
- Human rights groups say the U.S. strikes, which have left more than a dozen dead, amount to extrajudicial killings.
- Democratic senators are seeking a resolution to stop further attacks.
BOGOTA, Colombia — Authorities in the Dominican Republic said they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the U.S. Navy, as the Trump administration carries out a controversial anti-narcotics mission in the southern Caribbean.
At a news conference, the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate for Drug Control said it recovered 377 packages of cocaine from the boat that was allegedly carrying 1,000 kilograms — more than 2,200 pounds — of the drug.
Officials said the boat was destroyed about 80 nautical miles south of Isla Beata, a small island that belongs to the Dominican Republic. They said the Dominican Navy worked in conjunction with U.S. authorities to locate the speedboat, which was allegedly trying to dock in the Dominican Republic and use the nation as a “bridge” to transport cocaine to the United States.
“This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean,” the directorate said in a statement this week.
In August, the U.S. sent eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean, in what the Trump administration has said was a mission to fight drug trafficking.
The White House says the flotilla has destroyed three speedboats carrying drugs in separate strikes that have killed more than a dozen people aboard the vessels.
Human rights groups have said the strikes on the boats amount to extrajudicial killings, and two Democratic senators have introduced a resolution in Congress that seeks to block the administration from carrying out further strikes.
The Trump administration says at least two of the boats that have been sunk left from Venezuela.
The White House accuses Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of being a drug trafficker with cartel ties. Maduro denies the charges and has described the U.S naval buildup in the Caribbean as an attack on his country.
Rueda writes for the Associated Press.
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