Nicaraguan soldiers of the Ecological Battalion Bosawas seized 616 marijuana plants in the community of Naranjal, Prinzapolka municipality, North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, on 9 October 2023.[1] The army said the plants were 1.5 metres tall each and had been sown in a mountainous area.[1] Alongside the plants, troops seized 1.5 pounds of processed marijuana ready for sale and 6 ounces of seeds, with 1.5 pounds equal to about 0.68 kilograms.[1]

Troops retained Nicaraguan citizen Osmar Úbeda Zelaya, 30, whom the army described as the person who looked after and maintained the plantation.[1] The detainee, the plants, the drugs and the seeds were handed over to the corresponding authorities.[1]

Canal 4, reproducing the same army press note, said Ecological Battalion officers seized about 616 marijuana plants in the community of Naranja in Prinzapolka municipality in the North Caribbean region.[2] TN8, citing the same army statement, said members of the Ecological Battalion Bosawas of the Eighth Military Region occupied a marijuana plantation and captured a person in the community of El Naranjal under Prinzapolka jurisdiction in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region.[3] TN8 said the operation seized 616 marijuana plants in the community of El Naranjal.[3] TN8 said the soldiers also seized 1.5 pounds of processed marijuana ready for sale and 6 ounces of seeds.[3] TN8 named the retained man as Nicaraguan citizen Osmar Úbeda Zelaya, 30, who looked after and maintained the plants.[3]

The operation was carried out under the state strategy Muro de Contención, the government’s Containment Wall anti-drug campaign.[1] The army said the protective measures ordered by the Health Ministry against COVID-19 were complied with during the operation.[1] The information note, numbered 023/2023, was dated 10 October 2023 at the headquarters of the Ecological Battalion Bosawas.[1]