ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Three Venezuelans and one Columbian national are due back in court on Wednesday after they were denied bail on drug related charges.

The men, Eraquio Jose Gonzales, Pablo Roberto Gonzales and Isidro Aniba Mata of Venezuela and Luis Gilberto Moriano Masquera of Columba, arrived here from Venezuela on a 32-foot pleasure craft last Wednesday and law enforcement officials said more than one ton of cocaine with a street value of EC$128.5 million (US$47.3 million) was discovered on the boat.

They were subsequently charged with possession of illegal drugs, possession with the intent to supply, possession with the intent to transfer, drug trafficking and being concerned with the supply of cocaine,
and importation.

A joint statement from the Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force Coast Guard (ABDFCG) said that the drugs discovered on the boat are “the largest cocaine seizure in the nation’s history and also possibly the largest in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

“This seizure is indeed a significant achievement. As recent as July 2010 several seizures occurred throughout the world, Australia recorded a seizure of over 200 kilos of cocaine, while in Manitoba, Canada 51 kilos of cocaine were seized, the largest for the province, and in Ukraine, authorities
seized over 580 kilos of cocaine, their largest. Notably in the French neighboring island of Martinique the customs officials seized 1.39 tons of cocaine this past June,” the statement added.

ONDCP Director, Lt Col Edward Croft, said that the organisation is pleased that “we were able to make a contribution to an enhanced security environment through the interception of this very dangerous drug”.

He said the seizure came at a time when the island is preparing for the annual Carnival celebrations when “it is customary that there is an increased availability and use of illegal narcotics”.

Last month, local law enforcement officials intercepted a vessel on its way to St. Maarteen with 27.4 kilos of cocaine worth $3.8 million (US$1.4 million).