The Colombian navy detained an Ecuadorean-flagged fishing boat off its Pacific coast that contained roughly $15 million worth of illegally caught fish, CM& reported on Wednesday.
According to authorities, there were nineteen Ecuadoreans and four Colombians on the “Chasca” fishing vessel, which was carrying a haul of over 10 tons of tuna and yellow-fin albacore fish illegally caught in the waters of Colombia’s Malpelo national park.
Following the capture, the fishing boat was escorted to the Colombian port city of Buenaventura, where the Ecuadoreans were handed over to Colombia’s DAS security agency for processing, while the fish was handled by the country’s Institute of Rural Development.
Colombia is regularly at odds with other countries in the region over fishing rights.
Last month, the Colombian navy detained a Jamaican fishing boat with approximately 3 tons of fish illegally caught in Colombian waters.
In April, Nicaragua detained 23 Colombian fishermen who they say were illegally fishing in their territorial waters, claims that Colombia rejected on the basis of an ongoing maritime dispute with the Central American nation.