Nine men, including a minor, have been arrested by Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ) in connection with the theft of four containers loaded with tuna products from a customs warehouse in Limón on the country’s Caribbean coast, according to Costa Rican news sites. Authorities recovered 400 boxes containing thousands of canned tuna from two of the stolen containers during an operation that began Tuesday. However, reports did not disclose the brands and it remains unclear whether the other two containers have been recovered. The suspects have been referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for further legal proceedings.

According to officials, several suspects were armed and masked when they entered the warehouse on June 30, and subdued security personnel, seized their equipment, and removed the tuna cargo from the facility. Container theft has emerged as a growing threat to cargo transport in Costa Rica. Over the past two years, the OIJ has received more than 330 complaints and identified criminal gangs specializing in such robberies, according to Costa Rican news outlet CR Hoy.

Drug traffickers have discovered a new way to smuggle cocaine by hiding it in frozen tuna. Russian officials found 500 kg in packages concealed inside the fish, which could only be removed by cutting the fish with a chainsaw. The shipment was legally imported from Ecuador and transported in a container to the port of St Petersburg, where the Federal Security Service agents discovered over 100 bricks of narcotics with an estimated street value of USD 50 to 70 million.

A Russian citizen suspected of involvement in an international smuggling network for cocaine from Latin American origin has been arrested. A search of his residence yielded a large amount of cryptocurrency, as well as expensive watches and cars. The Ukraine war led to the closure of the port of Odesa, a drug trafficking hub, and Latin American cartels rerouted shipments to the port of St. Petersburg. Authorities have seized increasingly large shipments since 2022 and claim that the drug is transported over land to Western European countries. The domestic niche market for cocaine is growing, but its high costs makes it a luxury item that is out of reach for the vast majority of Russians.

A ceremony for the tuna plant marked the official start of the Gropoint Seafood Processing Plant Project in Kampong Serasa, a port town in Brunei. This project aims to establish premium seafood processing capabilities, including tuna, fish meal, and fish oil production, as part of Brunei Darussalam’s vision to develop a fully integrated seafood production chain. The domestic fleet only operates in national waters. The event on June 25 was attended by the Ministers from various departments, officials, and companies.

The facility will serve as a regional hub for seafood processing, focusing on value-added products like sashimi-grade tuna and pre-cooked tuna loins for canning. It will also include cold storage, quality assurance labs, and a logistics infrastructure. The plant will have a daily processing capacity of 60 tons and an annual throughput of 20,400 M/T of seafood. Strategically located at Serasa, the plant leverages Brunei’s access to the WCPO with the world’s largest tuna fisheries. In 2020, tuna fishing company Golden Corporation had plans to expand its tuna fishing and processing capacity in Brunei. It produced mostly high-quality tuna and other seafood products for the Japanese market and cat food.