Costa Rica seizes boat with half-ton of cocaine

Costa Rican authorities on Thursday seized a boat carrying 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of cocaine and arrested five suspected traffickers, the government said.

They moved on the vessel, 81 kilometers (50 miles) from Golfito on the southern Pacific coast, after a tipoff from U.S. authorities who carried out a joint patrol with the Central American nation.

Two Colombians, an Ecuadoran, a Nicaraguan and a Costa Rican were detained.

The Public Safety Ministry said authorities found the drugs in individual packets of about one kilogram each.

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and the main supplier to the United States market.

Minister of Public Safety Michael Soto said the Pacific Ocean region is “very much used to move drugs from the South.”

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