ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) – The Dominica police on Friday said they had made the biggest drug bust in the country’s history after more than 1,700 kilos of cocaine with a street value of over EC$46 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) was seized earlier this week.

The country’s acting police commissioner, Lincoln Corbette, told a news conference that the seizure is part of the operation Clean Street.

“We seized, I believe, the biggest haul in Dominica; it must be the biggest haul ever, ever in Dominica,” he said, recalling that in 1981, 1982, the country had a seizure of about 3,000 pounds of cocaine.

‘We have dwarfed that. We seized 1,730 kilos of cocaine with a street value estimated at EC$46.764 million,” Corbette said, congratulating the officers involved for their hard work. “That is 46 million dollars that will not be in the hands of the criminals to cause damage and danger to our citizens. Cocaine is a very dangerous substance,” he added.

Corbette did not disclose if anyone had been arrested in connection with the cocaine seizure, but said that 24 arrests and the seizure of large amounts of cash and a number of firearms had been confiscated as a result of the ongoing operation, Clean Street.

“We have arrested 19 males and five females in this operation, and they have been charged for various offences. During the exercise, we seized in excess of US$10,000, 800 Barbados dollars, 400 Euros and EC$30,507. We seized and recovered two shotguns, one sub-machine gun, one nine millimetre Taurus pistol, seven air rifles, two Glock pistols,” he said, in addition to several rounds of ammunition.