Fisher Snares Suspected Cocaine In Marshall Is
Afisherman on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands got more than he bargained for when he pulled in his throw net last week.
It contained 48kg of plastic bags containing what is believed to be cocaine.
The haul of white powder was in professionally double-wrapped and taped plastic bags and could have a street value of about US$4 million (FJ$8.44m).
The fisherman called local Police, who secured the load of suspected drugs, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Robson Almen, who flew to Kwajalein to bring the suspected drugs to Police headquarters in Majuro last week.
Marshall Islands law enforcement personnel have requested US Embassy assistance to bring in Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents to handle the packages, including laboratory analysis to determine what the white powder is. Mr Almen cautioned that because the Marshall Islands does not have a laboratory, he could not confirm the powder was cocaine. However, the bags of suspected drugs found late last month in Kwajalein Atoll follow a similar pattern as other drug packages that have washed up on remote islands around the Marshall Islands over the past 20 years - including a large shipment that washed into Kwajalein in 2004.
In contrast to the 2004 drug find at Kwajalein, which resulted in the prosecution of over a dozen Marshall Islanders for drug possession and distribution, the Deputy Commissioner believes the police obtained the entire amount that was fished up last week.
“We’re pretty sure we got all of it,” he said on Friday.
His observation is based on the way the suspected drugs were packaged and the fact that no packs were broken out of a larger bundle.
Mr Almen added that the Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the matter further.