MANAGUA – Nicaraguan security forces seized 1.6 tons of cocaine and arrested five foreign drug traffickers over the weekend in the northern Caribbean region, officials said.
The suspects were identified as Pedro Cedeño Archivol, a 39-year-old Panamanian, EfraÃm Alejandro RodrÃguez Duarte, 36, Baudilio Allan Galindo, no age given, and Nataniel Roberto Eduardo Hylock, 38, all from Honduras; and Juan Fernando Pantoja, a 29-year-old Colombian.
Galindo was wounded in a shootout with the security forces, officials said.
The suspects were transporting the cocaine in 53 bales aboard a speedboat, National Police and army spokesmen said in a press conference Sunday at the air force headquarters in Managua.
A small quantity of marijuana apparently intended for the use of the smugglers was also seized.
Police and navy personnel made the seizure Saturday during an operation some 32 kilometers (about 20 miles) southeast of the Miskito Cays in the northern Caribbean.
Security forces personnel also seized the speedboat, which was equipped with four outboard engines and 19 receptacles for storing gasoline.
The suspects face drug trafficking and other charges, officials said.
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