French police found more than a ton of cocaine hidden onboard Trudy; Dutch police found another 529 kilos; police in Senegal found two tons. And in between, a mercenary band swarmed Trudy at night searching for a hidden stash.
The Mob Reporter here with the amazing tale of the Trudy, a humble, hard-working commercial ship that everyone wanted. Well, not want her, so much as what she was secretly holding — which was perhaps more than three tons of cocaine.
Trudy, a bulk carrier sailing under a Liberian flag, is 185 metres long and 24 metres wide. From a port in Brazil, she travelled more than 5,000 miles, first, east to the coast of Africa, and then north to Europe. French customs agents intercepted her and brought her to port in Dunkirk, where they found 1,127 kilos, authorities said. While Trudy was docked in France, armed commandos stormed onto her at night, held the crew captive for hours while they searched the ship. They apparently left empty handed.
Trudy carried on her journey, but was searched again in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and more hidden bricks were found, presumably what the mercs were looking for.
Meanwhile, a yacht that was sailing near Trudy off the coast of Africa was intercepted by two naval boats from Senegal. On board that yacht, called La Rosa, they found 2,026 kilos, authorities said. The packaging was said to be the same as some of the load found in Europe on Trudy.
If so, Trudy had quite a logistical operation behind her — three separate secret loads with three different destinations for three distinct customers, all on the one dangerous journey.
It is an extraordinary story.
France - MR.
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