The navy said that so far its officials have found 23.6t of cocaine on the Esmeralda, a Hong Kong registered ship, which sailed from Buenaventura to Manzanillo in the Pacific coast state of Colima. The cocaine was hidden behind bars of soap. Sniffer dogs found the drugs.
The US ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, praised the seizure, which he valued at US$400m and claimed that it showed the need for the US congress to approve the Iniciativa Mérida which would increase US anti-drugs aid to Mexico from US$40m to US$500m a year.
The drugs found at Manzanillo were almost certainly owned by what the federal attorney general, Eduardo Medina Mora, said was the Cártel del Pacífico. This a group of gangs led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and includes gangs headed by the Beltrán Leiva family, Ignacio Coronel and "El Mayo" Zambada.
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