Turkish Police Seize 350kg Cocaine from Bulker's Sea Chest

Major Cocaine Bust in Mersin Highlights Sea Chest Smuggling Risk

Turkish authorities have uncovered approximately 350 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside the sea chest of a bulk carrier docked at the port of Mersin, according to a report by The Maritime Executive. The narcotics, estimated to be worth nearly $31 million, were recovered by police divers acting on intelligence that a large drug shipment was arriving from South America.

Details of the Seizure

According to the report, the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and local narcotics police had been systematically searching vessels arriving from South American ports when divers located twelve packages hidden within the sea chest of the vessel. Turkey’s Justice Minister identified the ship as the CSPC Pisces, an 84,500 dwt bulker that is Chinese-owned and Liberian-flagged. The vessel had sailed from Brazil, called at Tarragona in Spain, and arrived in Turkey on September 11.

Alongside the cocaine, investigators recovered diving gear and an underwater scooter, equipment apparently used to access and retrieve the hidden narcotics while the ship was in port. Nine individuals were taken into custody as part of the ongoing investigation into who assisted in the smuggling operation.

A Growing Pattern at Sea

The incident comes shortly after maritime intelligence firm Windward published an analysis warning that the use of sea chests to conceal narcotics has become an increasingly common smuggling method. The firm identified 20 confirmed cases of this technique since 2017, noting that vessel crews are frequently unaware that their ship is being used this way. Windward’s analysis suggests that bulkers and tankers are particularly attractive to smugglers because of their predictable trade routes and the extended time they spend alongside in port, both of which make it easier for divers to plant and later retrieve contraband without detection.

Mersin itself has become a recognized entry point for cocaine moving from Latin America into Europe. Turkish authorities noted that in January they intercepted nearly 300 kg of cocaine hidden in a container falsely declared as a peanut shipment from Brazil. Cumulative seizures at the port totaled 4.1 metric tons between 2018 and 2024, and reported figures show that 2024 seizures alone exceeded three metric tons — a 23 percent increase over the prior year.

What This Means for Owners and Operators

For ship owners and managers, incidents like this underscore a blind spot that conventional cargo and crew vetting cannot fully address: the underwater hull and sea chest areas are largely invisible to onboard personnel during normal operations. Because smuggling of this kind typically occurs without crew knowledge or consent, vessels calling at ports linked to narcotics trafficking routes — particularly those with recent calls in South America — face reputational, legal, and operational exposure even when their own crew and cargo documentation are entirely clean.

This raises a practical question for technical superintendents and charterers: should underwater hull inspections become a more routine part of due diligence for vessels transiting known smuggling corridors, rather than being reserved for class or biofouling purposes alone? Diver-based hull and sea chest inspections, historically used to check for fouling, damage, or invasive species, could increasingly serve a dual purpose in verifying that no unauthorized packages have been attached to a vessel’s underwater structure. Given that narcotics squads are themselves now relying on divers to search vessels, owners transiting high-risk routes may want to consider proactive underwater surveys before and after calls at ports flagged as smuggling hubs, both to protect the vessel from liability and to avoid costly delays if authorities decide to conduct their own inspection.

As smuggling techniques evolve, port state authorities and shipping companies alike will likely need to treat hull and sea chest checks as a standard risk-management tool rather than an occasional precaution.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.