Armed Cocaine Smuggler Caught on Barge off San Juan

On June 10, Coast Guard Sector San Juan detained a stowaway and seized hundreds of kilos of cocaine aboard a barge off the coast of Puerto Rico - the latest in a string of busts on the approaches to San Juan Harbor.

The cutters Joseph Tezanos and Isaac Mayo intercepted the barge Crimson Clover off the coast of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, during the vessel's transit to San Juan. THey boarded the barge and found a stowaway on board with a gun and nine bales of cocaine.

The suspected smuggler, the drugs and the gun were seized and transferred to Homeland Security personnel at Base San Juan.

"This case highlights excellent teamwork across four maritime units and efficient interoperability between Homeland Security Task Force – San Juan partners," said Lt. Cmdr. Ross Markham, Joseph Tezanos' CO. "A collective pool of experience and available assets led to a safe boarding and a discovery of cocaine aboard the barge, which further deters smuggling organizations from exploiting incoming commercial vessels to conduct human and drug trafficking activities within our area of responsibility."

It is the latest in a series of barge busts at San Juan. In May, the U.S. Coast Guard busted a group of eight stowaways on a barge in San Juan's harbor, including four Chinese nationals. In February, the service caught one smuggler and 10 bales of cocaine aboard another barge, the SanJuan-Jaxbridge.