91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Crime

13 tons of cocaine bound for the U.S. seized from ferry in Pacific, Panama says

/ CBS/AFP

Panamanian authorities on Tuesday announced a large seizure of U.S.-bound cocaine on a ferry in the Pacific, at a time Washington is upping an anti-drug military deployment in Latin America.

Prosecutor Julio Villareal told reporters approximately 13.2 tons of drugs, "in this case cocaine," were seized in an operation Monday, and 10 people arrested.

It was one of the biggest such hauls in Panamanian waters to date, he said.

In a , the prosecutor's office released several images of the alleged drugs, saying that a total of 11,562 packages were seized.

cocaine-screenshot-2025-11-12-061432.png
Panamanian authorities on Tuesday announced a large seizure of U.S.-bound cocaine on a ferry in the Pacific, at a time Washington is upping an anti-drug military deployment in Latin America. Panama Prosecutor's Office

Panama is a transit point for cocaine from South America, mainly Colombia, destined for the United States — the world's largest consumer.

Villareal said Venezuelans, Ecuadorians and Nicaraguans were among those detained on the ferry, which had set out from Colombia.

Panama in 2023 seized a total of 119 metric tons of drugs.

Latin American countries have been keen to show off anti-narcotics efforts as U.S. strikes on alleged drug-ferrying boats have claimed at least 76 lives so far in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Washington said its military deployment in the region is part of an anti-drug campaign, but Venezuela in particular fears it is all a ploy to get rid of its president, Nicolas Maduro.

When asked in an interview with "60 Minutes" recently if Maduro's "days were numbered," Mr. Trump responded, "I would say yeah. I think so, yeah."

Recent drug seizures on the high seas

Large amounts of drugs have also been confiscated from boats in other parts of the world in recent months.

In October, police in Spain said that they seized 6.5 tons of cocaine and arrested nine people after a U.S. tip-off led them to raid a ship off the Canary Islands.

That same month, U.S. Central Command confirmed that a Pakistani navy ship seized narcotics worth more than $972 million from sailboats in the Arabian Sea.

In September, the French navy seized nearly 10 tons of cocaine worth more than $600 million from a fishing vessel off the coast of West Africa.

In April, the U.S. Coast Guard seized roughly 10,000 pounds of cocaine from a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier this month, the Coast Guard said it had seized more than in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean during this fiscal year, the largest amount in its history. 

In:

© 2025 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=fd53910ecf4604072044ab7c46d9b028'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });