Sailor in Drugs Bust Didn´t Ask for Croatia´s Help

The sailor was caught with some 230kg of cocaine which he hid in his cabin. The Croatian Foreign Ministry says he did not seek assistance.

ZAGREB, CROATIA - - The sailor did not ask for consular help, but the Croatian Embassy still offered assistance. An interpreter was found for him. The sailor is currently under investigative proceedings after which it will be decided if he will undergo trial – the Croatian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Mario Dragun, told us. 

Some 230 kilograms of cocaine were found in the South African port of Durban, on the ship “Senator” and in the cabin of a Croatian sailor. The confiscated drugs are one of the largest quantity of drugs ever confiscated in the history of the country.

The sailor is Branimir Orac, 28, who was transferred onto the ship via a company from Klagenfurt.

The “Senator” is registered in Liberia and was sailing from Croatia. The last stop it made was in Argentina where it was not searched. It is unknown if South Africa was the final destination of the large quantity of drugs.

The authorities said Orac loaded the drugs onto the ship in luggage and backpacks and allegedly he had so many luggage bags and backpacks as if he was “going to Kilimanjaro”.

None of the other staff took part in the smuggling, the authorities concluded after the ship was searched.