Sweep of southwest coast nets cocaine, arrests (UPDATE)

Santo Domingo.- Local and U.S Antinarcotics agents have recovered 26 bales presumably cocaine weighing up to 30 kilos each, along the coast of Pedernales province, near the town Ovideo.

FILE. The National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) has been conducting a major sweep in southwestern Pedernales province since Friday morning, arresting several suspected members of a drug ring that allegedly smuggled 1,500 kilos of cocaine through the coast.

Local media report that the operation includes Navy boats, DNCD units and Air Force aircraft, which search for drugs and other members of the ring still on the loose.

However DNCD spokesman Roberto Lebron said he had no information for the media for now.

The drugs were reportedly brought from Colombia and dropped off Pedernales’ coast, where several suspects were arrested.

Local media also report that once spotted from the air, the captain of the boat Candita, threw the cocaine bricks overboard.