U.S. Coast Guard nabs 1,800K cocaine near Dominican coast

San Juan, Puerto Rico.- The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday announced the confiscation of two shipments of cocaine totaling 1,800 kilos in the Caribbean Sea, with a street value of US$45.0 million.

In a statement to the local media, Coast Guard San Juan Sector commander Capt. Drew Pearson said other federal agencies collaborated with seizure carried out November 25 and 27.

In the November 25 operation, the Coast Guard seized 38 bales of 950 kilos of cocaine around 300 miles south of the Dominican Republic.

The crew of the Coast Guard surveillance aircraft HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Miami Air Station on patrol spotted four men aboard a suspect vessel which dumped part of the cargo by overboard and fled.

In the second operation on November 27, the Coast Guard and agents of the Caribbean Border Interagency Group arrested a Cuban citizen aboard a sailing ship 80 kilometers south of the Dominican Republic, carrying 850 kilos.

The surveillance aircraft crew detected the vessel that was then boarded by a patrol, which seized 26 packages of cocaine.

During the past five months, the Coast Guard, in cooperation with regional authorities, has seized nearly 10,000 kilos of cocaine and 3,000 of marijuana in the Caribbean, with a street value of around US$262 million.