Cook arrested after nearly half ton of cocaine found on ship bound for Amsterdam
Argentine authorities intercepted 469 kilograms of cocaine hidden aboard a grain ship bound for Amsterdam, seizing the drugs before the vessel could depart South America. The estimated street value of the shipment was approximately 5.46 million euros. The cook of the ship is currently in pretrial detention on suspicion of concealing the narcotics, AD reports.
Argentine police, aided by a specially trained sniffer dog, located the cocaine packed among 46,000 tons of pressed sunflower seeds. The drugs were hidden in refrigerators on board that also contained food for the crew. In total, officers discovered 16 cocaine bundles, each carefully packed to prevent water damage. The cocaine packages were marked with images of crowns, which authorities believe could indicate involvement by a specific drug cartel.
The bust took place on the Ceci, a cargo ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. According to Argentine media, the ship was preparing for departure from San Lorenzo, a city in the province of Santa Fe along the Paraná River, just north of Rosario.
The Ceci had arrived in San Lorenzo after departing from the United Arab Emirates, with scheduled stops in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Amsterdam, the alleged final destination of the cocaine shipment. The operation was disrupted when the ship’s Filipino captain reportedly alerted police about the suspicious cargo, according to his statement to investigators.
"A professional gang was behind the attempted smuggling,” a law enforcement source told Argentine newspaper La Nación. “The cocaine bundles were hidden inside bags, each bundle sealed with multiple protective layers to make the packages watertight. The intention appears to have been to dump the drug shipment at a specific location in the water, where it could later be retrieved by members of the criminal organization.”
Following the seizure, police detained the entire crew of the Ceci for questioning to determine whether any were complicit in the operation. According to sources cited by La Nación, the ship’s cook was placed in pretrial detention, as investigators suspect he was the individual responsible for hiding the drugs on board.
Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich hailed the seizure as a major success. On X, formerly Twitter, she called it a "knock-out against organized crime" and said the country would continue its "relentless war on drugs." Bullrich has publicly expressed her support for the hardline approach of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has implemented sweeping crackdowns on gang activity in El Salvador.
