USCG Detains Nine People as They Jettison Cocaine into Sea off Puerto Rico

 

The U.S. Coast Guard captured nine individuals who were involved in smuggling cocaine into Puerto Rico as the latest in a long string of interdictions as part of an ongoing effort in the Caribbean. The nine people were handed over to federal authorities in Puerto Rico on Monday along with the portion of their smuggling that the USCG was able to recover.

The nine individuals, eight men and a woman, told the USCG they were Dominican Republic nationals. The case is currently under investigation.

It began on the morning of August 5, when the aircrew aboard Customs and Border Protection enforcement aircraft detected a suspect small boat approximately 67 nautical miles north of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. CBP notified the U.S. Coast Guard which responded to further investigate the situation.

A Coast Guard Ocean Sentry Aircraft was able to detect the boat and maintain aerial surveillance. The Coast Guard cutter Joseph Napier was also dispatched to the scene.

As the Coast Guard cutter arrived, its crew observed the occupants of the suspect vessel jettison multiple packages overboard before the Coast Guard cutter was able to stop the boat. Following the interdiction, the Coast Guard detained the nine individuals.

The crew of the Coast Guard cutter was able to recover three bales of the jettisoned cargo. It tested positive for cocaine.

In addition to the nine individuals, the cutter handed over to the authorities 79 kilos of cocaine that was recovered from the ocean. The Coast Guard estimated the value of the cocaine at $829 thousand.

“The successful outcome in this case was achieved through the close coordination and collaboration between the Coast Guard and our partner agencies, who work daily to detect and stop illegal smuggling activities in the Mona Passage,” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Sector San Juan chief of response.  “Our interagency efforts with federal, local, and regional partners in our area of responsibility is critical to protecting the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from this threat as well as safeguarding the security and stability of the Caribbean region.”

The U.S. has an interagency operation underway called Unified Resolve as part of Operation Caribbean Guard to deter, detect, and disrupt illicit maritime trafficking to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Caribbean Corridor Strike Force is an initiative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and coordinates with the task force that investigates South American-based drug trafficking organizations responsible for the movement of multi-kilogram quantities of narcotics using the Caribbean as a transshipment point for further distribution to the United States.