Mexico seizes more than 11 metric tons of cocaine

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican police and customs have seized more than 11 tons of cocaine at a port on the country's Pacific coast, one of the largest-ever hauls in Mexico, the government said Wednesday.

Police found the narcotics, the second major haul this month, on board a Hong Kong-flagged container ship from Colombia at the Manzanillo port in Colima state Tuesday, Mexico's attorney general's office said.

"So far, 10,516 packets of drugs have been counted weighing more than 11 tons ... one of the largest amounts of cocaine ever seized in this country's history," the office said in a statement.

Mexican soldiers seized at least 11 tons of cocaine earlier this month at a town on Mexico's Atlantic coast.

President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of troops across Mexico to attack the dominant Gulf and Sinaloa cartels since taking office in December.

Among the offensive's recent successes, police last week arrested Sandra Avila, reputedly a top trafficker nicknamed the "Queen of the Pacific."

But more than 2,000 people have been killed this year in violence involving rival drug gangs and the government.

Last month, a private jet with nearly 4 tons of cocaine aboard crashed into a southern Mexican jungle. Some reports say the army forced the plane to crash-land.