Mexican authorities have uncovered a new method of drug smuggling after two men were found in a container with cocaine on an AP Moller-Maersk boxship.
The two men appeared to be dockworkers, reports said this week after the 9,640-teu Maersk Svendborg (built 1998) was raided at Manzanillo on 2 July.
The CE Noticias Financieras website said a probe by the Attorney General's Office and Semar, the federal government's marine secretariat, indicated the pair posed as port company employees to gain access to the vessel.
They opened the container and hid inside, planning to emerge with the contraband as the vessel headed out to sea again.
They then intended to jump overboard and be picked up by accomplices in speedboats with GPS devices.
But Interpol had already received a tip-off and alerted local authorities.
Naval forces with sniffer dogs boarded the vessel and arrested the men.
Mexican newspaper El Universal said the drugs were worth $1.2m.
Maersk cooperating with investigation
Maersk has confirmed two men were found hidden in a container.
But the Danish shipping giant is not disclosing further details while the investigation continues.
"We are cooperating with the Mexican authorities responsible for the case," a spokesman said.
The vessel had arrived from Balboa in Panama and had previously visited Buenaventura in Colombia.
Seizures of drugs are an occupational hazard for big box lines.
TradeWinds has reported on four previous incidents involving the Maersk's vessels in the last four years.
