News item | 12-08-2022 | 09:08
13 arrested suspects and almost 2,900 kilos of drugs. That’s the last catch of Hr.Ms. Groningen in the Caribbean during 2 interceptions in one day. With that, the ship has already struck 9 times, since the tasks of Zr.Ms. Friesland took over. Since then, more than 9,000 kilos of contraband have been intercepted.
This time, the first catch occurred in the early morning of August 10. The Groningen took action on the instructions of the Maritime Operation Center of the Caribbean Coast Guard. The fast interceptor boats (FRISCs) subsequently stopped a suspicious vessel.
The 5 suspects turned out to have thrown their illegal goods overboard. It could be fished out of the water. It concerned 550 kilos of drugs, of which 100 kilos of marijuana and 450 kilos of cocaine. The suspects were arrested on the spot.
No sooner had the first catch been made than the Groningen sprang into action again. This time 2 were suspected go-fasts spotted. At that time, they were next to each other for a refueling stop. When the suspects realized that the Groningen was approaching them, they dumped their goods in one of the boats and took off in the other.
Once again the FRISCs gave chase, while the crew of the Groningen took care of the dumped goods. As the suspects failed to respond to stop signs and warning shots, the FRISC crew was forced to shut down the go-fast’s outboard motor.
The 8 suspects were subsequently arrested and transferred to Groningen. They are with the 2,300 kilos cocaine transferred to the authorities on Bonaire. So did the first catch of the day.