In two different cases on Sunday and Monday, the US Coast Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group seized a total of two million dollars of cocaine and seven smugglers, as part of the ongoing multi-agency law enforcement efforts off Puerto Rico.
On Sunday, the USCG Cutter Yellowfin interdicted a go-fast vessel just off Loiza, Puerto Rico, and it transferred four suspected smugglers and approximately one million dollars of cocaine to Ramey Sector Border Patrol Agents in Mayaguez Thursday afternoon.
Namely, the crew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft on a routine patrol detected a suspicious 20-foot go-fast vessel transiting at night towards Puerto Rico without navigational lights, approximately 22 nm off the northern coast of the island.
Watchstanders at Sector San Juan diverted the USS Zephyr and launched a Coast Guard Station San Juan 33-foot Special Purpose Craft Law-Enforcement boat to interdict the suspect vessel. As the Zephyr and Coast Guard response boat closed in on the go-fast, the crew of the Coast Guard aircraft observed the suspected smugglers jettisoning multiple packages of suspected contraband overboard.
Once on scene, the crews of the Zephyr and the Coast Guard boat stopped the go-fast, approximately 12 nm north of Loiza. The Zephyr embarked four men of Dominican Republic nationality from the suspect vessel.
Following the interdiction, the USCG aircraft vectored the Zephyr to the area of the jettisoned cargo, where the crew recovered multiple bales with a combined weight of 32.2 kilograms, 27 bricks, which tested positive for cocaine. The Zephyr destroyed the go-fast vessel as a hazard to navigation. The Coast Guard Cutter Yellowfin later rendezvoused with the Zephyr and embarked the suspected smugglers and contraband for final transport and transfer to federal law enforcement authorities in Mayaguez.
In a separate case Monday, Caribbean Border Interagency Group law enforcement authorities apprehended three other suspected smugglers and seized approximately one million dollars of cocaine, following the interdiction of a go-fast vessel off Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
During Monday’s Interdiction, the crew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft detected a suspicious go-fast just off Mona Island, Puerto Rico, and they alerted US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine agents of the situation.
Two CBP marine units from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico responded and intercepted the go-fast vessel. The CBP agents on scene apprehended three men and recovered approximately 33 kilograms of cocaine, 28 bricks, hidden inside a gasoline container.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assumed the prosecution and investigation of both cases.
