El Salvador seized packages containing 1.4 tons of cocaine floating in the Pacific Ocean, president Nayib Bukele said Tuesday, calling it a strike “against international drug trafficking,” AFP reports.

The shipment was found approximately 1,600km southwest of El Cordoncillo at the mouth of the Jaltepeque estuary on El Salvador’s Pacific coast, he said.

The Salvadoran president said the floating packages were valued at US$35 million.

Between 2024 and 2025, El Salvador seized 37.2 tons of cocaine with an estimated value of US$932.4 million, Bukele added.

The US embassy in El Salvador praised the operation, emphasizing that “each successful action against criminal networks shows that there is a growing synchrony between partners with common goals.”

Washington estimates that 90% of cocaine reaching the US passes through Mexico and Central America via small planes, boats, and mini-submarines.