Fisherman nets 48kg of cocaine

MAJURO: A fisherman in the Marshall Islands got more than he bargained for when he hauled in his catch to find a suspected 48kg of cocaine.

The white powder, professionally wrapped and taped in plastic bags, had a street value of about US$4mil (RM16.6mil), police said on Friday.

“We’re pretty sure we got all of it,” deputy police commissioner Robson Almen added, saying there was no indication the packs had broken out from a larger bundle.

Almen said the fisherman called the police when he found the drugs while trawling off Kwajalein Atoll, 494km from the capital Majuro.

The remote archipelago has a history of cocaine finds.