Puerto Rico-based US Coast Guard agents detained two Dominican citizens and seized 320 kilos of cocaine with an estimated black market value of $ 8.5 million during an operation in the south of the island of Hispaniola.
The Coast Guard reported through a statement this Friday that the operation took place on the 24th, when the crew of a Coast Guard patrol plane discovered a suspicious 7-meter fast boat about 200 miles south of the Dominican Republic.
The Mohawk Coast Guard detoured in response to the sighting and intercepted the suspected ship.
Coast Guard agents found and recovered nine bales weighing 302 kilograms that tested positive for cocaine.
The Mohawk crew shipped the confiscated contraband and the two men, who claimed to be citizens of the Dominican Republic.
The statement emphasizes that the ban was the result of the efforts of several agencies to support the U.S. Southern Command’s anti-drug trafficking operations in the Western Hemisphere, from the High’s Working Group to Combat Drugs Organized Crime (OCDETF) Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF).
The United States Attorney General for the Puerto Rico District is leading the prosecution of this case.
“This successful ban is a reflection of the teamwork and unwavering determination between the Coast Guard and our partners in federal agencies and the Department of Defense to protect the country’s southernmost sea border from drug trafficking threats,” said Commander James Jarnac , commander of the Coast Guard vessel Mohawk.
The Caribbean Corridor (CCSF) “Strike Force” is a working group made up of multiple agencies operating in the Puerto Rico district that target criminal organizations operating in the Caribbean and South America involved in maritime and air smuggling. from Puerto Rico to the continental US.