Cocaine Seized in PortMiami Hidden in the Hull of Cargo Ship
Eight pounds of cocaine were seized from the underwater portions of the hull of an inbound cargo ship arriving at PortMiami, according to a report from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. CBP said the drugs were seized using divers on September 23.
It was unclear from the brief social media posting if the vessel had been targeted for a routine inspection or if the officers were working on a specific tip. In the pictures, multiple divers can be seen working at the stern of the cargo ship. The posting says the drugs were recovered from “deep in the ship’s belly,” likely meaning a sea chest. In the past, smugglers have also been known to attach boxes to the hull of ships.
U.S. Border Patrol reports its divers were searching a ship coming from the Dominican Republic. They used “specialized underwater cutting tools” to detach the packages from the hull.
OPERATION PORTSIDE- COCAINE PULLED FROM A SHIP'S BELLY!
— Chief Michael W. Banks (@USBPChief) September 25, 2025
9/23-MIAMI, FL- USBP's BORSTAR dive team plunged beneath Miami waters and discovered a parasitic load strapped to the hull of a vessel arriving from the Dominican Republic. With specialized underwater cutting tools, agents… pic.twitter.com/l8iWpUIWfn
Additional details were not provided, but the vessel pictured, Hoheplate, is an 11,800 dwt containership registered in Antigua and Barbuda. It operates in the Caribbean. AIS signals show the vessel underway on September 26 from the Dominican Republic to Colombia.
Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Michael W. Banks, posted that their specialized team had made its first parasitic drug seizure. He said it was an “innovative advancement to continuing narcotics interdiction efforts.”
Smugglers have long been known to use commercial ships in their attempts to evade the authorities. In 1990, in PortMiami, two divers were spotted at the hull of a Carnival Cruise Line ship shortly after it docked. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that police divers found four steel boxes bolted to the hull of the ship containing about 250 pounds of marijuana. The two divers and a third individual were arrested in that case.