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Record amount of cocaine found hidden in South American jungle weeks after “narco sub” discovered in area
Authorities in the South American country of Guyana said Sunday they have seized more than 8,000 pounds of cocaine found in a lush jungle near the border with Venezuela, officials said, just weeks after a “narco sub” was foud in the area.
The land seizure is considered the biggest in recent history, with Security Minister Robeson Benn telling reporters he estimates the drugs are worth at least $200 million.
The drugs were found in earthen pits in Guyana’s northwest region, officials said.
They were located near a clandestine airstrip for shipment to Europe, a customs official said. James Singh, the head of the anti-narcotics unit of Guyana’s customs agency, said traffickers dug holes in the ground to hide the cocaine, and then covered them with wooden planks.
Police arrested one suspect and said they are looking for two more who fled the scene.
Guyana’s police and military, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, were involved in the operation.
“We are happy that we have the DEA with us sharing information and intelligence,” Benn said. “Guyana is a victim of this … illegal activity. We don’t produce cocaine; we don’t transit it.”
The drugs were seized in an area where police have found improvised submersible vessels — dubbed “narco subs” — hidden in the jungle in recent months. Officials said it’s unclear if any of those vessels were actually used but said they would step up monitoring in that region.
INTERPOL
Just weeks ago, Interpol said a homemade “narco sub” intercepted in a Guyana jungle was capable of transporting as much as 3 tons of cocaine at a time, and warned that traffickers in the region can steer semisubmersibles through the rivers of South America before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and eventually arriving in Western Europe.
That semisubmersible vessel was seized along with 615 tons of illegal drugs and 505 tons of precursor chemicals worth $1.6 billion, as well as 65 stolen cars, in 31 different nations, Interpol said.
Semi-submersibles, which cannot go fully underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers as they can often elude detection by authorities. The vessels are sometimes seized in Colombian waters while heading to the United States, Central America and Europe.
Earlier this summer, the Colombian Navy said it seized two of the vehicles off the country’s Pacific coast that together contained almost 5 tons of cocaine and were routing toward Central America. Colombian authorities said at the time that officers had intercepted 13 of the subs so far in 2024 after intercepting 20 of the semisubmersibles in 2023.
AFP contributed to this report.
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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