Dominican Republic says it seized cocaine that was on speedboat destroyed by U.S. Navy

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said Sunday they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the U.S.

BOGOTA, Colombia — Authorities in the Dominican Republic said Sunday they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the U.S. Navy, as the Trump administration carries out a controversial anti-narcotics mission in the southern Caribbean.

In a press conference, the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate for Drug Control said it recovered 377 packages of cocaine from the boat which was allegedly carrying 1,000 kilograms of the drug.

Officials said the boat was destroyed about 80 nautical miles south of Isla Beata, a small island that belongs to the Dominican Republic. They said the Dominican’s Republic Navy worked in conjunction with U.S. authorities to locate the speedboat which was allegedly trying to dock in the Dominican Republic and use the nation as a “bridge” to transport cocaine to the United States.

“This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean,” the directorate said in a statement.

In August, the U.S. sent eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean, in what the Trump administration has said was a mission to fight drug trafficking.