12-hour boat chase in the Caribbean leads to seizure of 1.5 tons of cocaine

Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they intercepted a speedboat carrying more than 1.5 tons of suspected cocaine in a dramatic 12-hour pursuit across sea and land, ending in one of the nation’s largest maritime drug seizures.

The chase began Monday off the southern coast near Pedernales, when military and anti-narcotics teams spotted a suspicious "go-fast" boat. Using helicopters, ships, and ground units, officials pursued the vessel through the night before cornering it several nautical miles west of Cabo Falso.

Inside the 35-foot gray boat, officers found 53 bales containing 1,536 packages of suspected cocaine, according to the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD). The packages were wrapped in black plastic and marked with various logos.

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