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Shipowner targeted by drug traffickers for a second time as cocaine found hidden among cargo of cocoa powder
Illegal drugs have been found on an Arkas Line container ship for the second time in five months.
Italy’s Guardia di Finanza said it had seized more than 2,000 kg of cocaine from the 2,586-teu Mersin Express (built 2017) in what was called “an important anti-drug operation”.
The date of the raid was not released, but Clarksons data showed the ship in the port for more than four days from 20 March.
The cocaine, packaged in 1,800 blocks, was found hidden in a container with a consignment of cocoa powder inside.
The Guardia di Finanza said the seizure was a “new and significant blow to international drug trafficking”, coordinated with customs officials.
The box had been loaded onto the feeder vessel at the port of Guayaquil in Ecuador.
The cocaine, worth more than €500m ($566m), has been destroyed in an incinerator.
Clarksons lists the Mersin Express as operated by German line Hapag-Lloyd.
Arkas Group has been contacted for comment.
In December, the tonnage provider said the discovery of cocaine on one of its vessels highlighted the challenge that the international drugs trade poses to shipping.
Spanish media reported that authorities found 524 kg of cocaine in a cargo hold when the 2,586-teu Izmit Express (built 2017) arrived at the port of Vigo.
“The recent seizure of 524 kg of cocaine, concealed within a shipment of bananas, is a serious matter that underscores the ongoing challenges faced by the global shipping industry in combating drug trafficking,” the company said in a statement provided to TradeWinds.
As TradeWinds has reported, the discovery came after Spanish authorities found a further 24 kg of cocaine on the same ship earlier that month.
The shipowner said it did not own the cargo or containers, and the ship is operated under a charter agreement. The charterer was not named.
That means responsibility for the cargo and its contents lies with the charterer and other parties with associated shipping agreements, Arkas Group said.
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