Agent seized 1,155 pounds of cocaine with a street value of about $15 million south of Cabo Rojo Puerto Rico. Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
June 25 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 1,155 pounds of cocaine with a street value of about $15 million south of Cabo Rojo. Puerto Rico, two days after a vessel with 18 pounds of cocaine was found nearby in Rincon.
CPB’s Air and Marine Operations interdicted a vessel shortly before midnight Tuesday in western Puerto Rico and arrested three people from the Dominican Republic without proper documentation to enter or remain in the United States.
The 30-foot yola-type vessel had outboard engines and carried three people, navigating north about 22 miles south of Cabo Rojo.
The Coastal Interceptor vessel was supported by an AMO UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.
The FBI took custody of the three people as well as a rifle. The Drug Enforcement Administration assumed custody of the narcotics.
“This successful interdiction highlights the critical role maritime domain awareness plays in securing our nation’s borders,” Creighton Skeen, deputy director of Air and Marine Operations in the Caribbean, said. “Our teams are committed to protecting the homeland by stopping drug trafficking before they reach U.S. shores.”
On Sunday, CBP’s Caribbean Air and Marine Operations detected a suspected vessel approximately 3 nautical miles southwest of Black Eagle beach in Rincon.
The 22-foot white vessel with a 60-horsepower engine was beached along the shoreline, CBP said.
The Ramey Sector, which encompasses U.S. territorial islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, is the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the continental United States.
It encompasses 6,000 square miles of land and water.