Federal agents on Wednesday seized $33 million worth of cocaine on a boat that was trying to smuggle the drug off the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques, officials said, marking at least the third major bust in the U.S. territory since July.
More than 3,600 pounds were seized in the early hours of the morning after unidentified people on board the boat washed ashore and fled the area. According to US Customs and Border Protection.
Vieques is located in the east of Puerto Rico and is a popular tourist destination.
Agents were able to recover the boat from the shallow water and the FBI took the drugs and the vessel into custody for investigation, officials said.
“This operation highlights our continued commitment to border security and protecting our citizens from the threat of illegal narcotics,” said Christopher Hunter, director of air and marine operations in the Caribbean.
The seizure comes days after US Customs and Border Protection and Puerto Rico police seized more than $5 million worth of cocaine aboard a boat near the west coast city of Rincon. More than 580 pounds were seized, and two U.S. citizens were arrested Sunday, officials said.
Last week, federal agents 6 million dollars have been seized The price of cocaine and the arrest of two men from the Dominican Republic in waters south of Puerto Rico.
In July, Puerto Rico police seized $4.6 million worth of cocaine Aboard a boat near the western coastal city of Rincon. More than 580 pounds were seized, and two U.S. citizens were arrested Sunday, officials said.
Puerto Rico has long served as a transit point for drug smuggling to the US mainland and Europe.
In June, the US Coast Guard said more than that had been offloaded 4,800 pounds of cocaine A speedboat suspected of smuggling drugs worth more than $63 million in the Caribbean Sea has been docked in a Florida port after Coast Guard officers fired on it and sank it.
About a week before that, a different Coast Guard crew San Diego sold $468 million worth of cocaine. That distance was the result of eight separate operations along the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America.
There have also been bricks of cocaine Wash up on a Florida beach In recent months – at least five times since the beginning of the year.
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