Dominican authorities find 1.5 tons of cocaine after boat chase lasting more than 12 hours

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said Tuesday that they chased a boat for more than 12 hours and discovered 1.5 tons of cocaine aboard it.

It’s one of the Caribbean country’s biggest seizures in history, said Carlos Devers, spokesperson for the country’s Anti-Drug Agency. Authorities began pursuing a speedboat heading towards the island with several people on board after determining it to be suspicious, local news outlet Acento reported.

Helicopters, boats and cars were involved in the chase, which began Monday off the country’s south coast near Pedernales. It ended with the arrest of three Dominicans and one Colombian, Devers said.

Inside the 35-foot boat were 53 bales of plastic packages, totaling 1,536 individually wrapped bags of suspected cocaine, authorities said. Authorities also seized items including a cellphone, 13 jerrycans of fuel, a small cooler filled with water and food, and a backpack with a change of clothes.

The Dominican Republic has long been considered a major drug transit point, with some of the shipments bound for Europe. The largest seizure in the country’s history happened last year in December when authorities seized nearly 9.5 tons of cocaine worth $250 million. Overall, officials seized more than 46 tons of drugs last year.

The second biggest seizure was reported in 2006, with 2.8 tons of cocaine found at Caucedo port.