More than 2,400 kilos of cocaine were found on container ship MSC Lorena (IMO 9320403), which was forced to dock in Vlissingen on December 22nd after a bomb threat to Belgian police that later turned out to be false alarm.
“The drugs were found in a container with a deckload of cocoa,” the Antwerp prosecutor’s office said. The ship was forced to anchor for a week. After nothing was found through investigations, the ship was able to dock in the port of Antwerp on December 29th to unload its cargo.
The police later arrested two suspects, a 24-year-old man from Delft and a 22-year-old from Hagenaar. The two men are suspected of threatening to commit a terrorist crime.
“The ship had to be anchored for a week, so the cargo could not be unloaded. In addition, one must realize that, for example, just lending a telephone to express a threat can have enormous consequences,” said Gert Wibbelink, head of the Infrastructure Department of the National Unit.
2006-built, Panama-flagged, 50,963 gt MSC Lorena is owned by SKT Line SA care of Mediterranean Shipping Co of Piano di Sorrento, Naples, Italy. It is entered with UK Club on behalf of Conglomerate Maritime Ltd. As of January 18th the vessel was en route from Lome, Togo, to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, ETA January 18th.