Five tons of cocaine seized on a ship in Venezuela, Montenegrins arrested

MONTENEGRO, (Patria) - A total of five tons of cocaine were seized on the ship Aresa in Venezuelan waters and Montenegrin citizens were arrested, the Police Administration announced. Earlier today, one ton of cocaine was found on the ship, and later another four. The search, as they stated, is still ongoing.

As announced earlier today by the Police Administration of Montenegro, acting on information they forwarded to partner services of Great Britain, a major international police operation was carried out in Venezuelan waters, in Aruba, in which more than one ton of cocaine has been seized so far on the ship "Aressa".

"The ship 'Aressa' was located and observed along its entire route along South America, with special surveillance measures at every entry and exit from ports. After receiving operational information that cocaine had been 'loaded' onto the 'Aressa', the Royal Netherlands Navy intercepted the ship in Aruba and began a detailed search which is still ongoing," the police stated.

Those arrested, as they report, are Montenegrin citizens who were crew members.

It is suspected that the cocaine was to be smuggled on this ship from Colombia to one of the ports in Western Europe.

"The Montenegrin police, over a longer period of time, through concrete and operational exchange of information with partner services and conducting joint investigations, achieve significant results," the Administration points out.

The seizure of cocaine in Aruba is, as they stated, the result of concrete cooperation between the Police Administration and partners from Great Britain, the Republic of Serbia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and partner services of other countries.

"This investigation is an example of best practice when it comes to conducting international cases, and an indicator that only through continuous joint work can quality results be achieved in cutting drug smuggling chains at the international level," the Police Administration concludes.