ICE Agents Seize $25M Worth of Cocaine Near Puerto Rico

John McCarthyPosted oninAt VIFreep, Breaking News, Crime News, Police News, Puerto Rico News, U.S. Department of Justice

SAN JUAN — Federal authorities in Puerto Rico have seized $25 million worth of cocaine in waters off an outer island.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE) said Friday that nearly 2,400 pounds (1,100 kilograms) were found aboard a boat near the island of Vieques.

Officials said they pursued the boat on Thursday but that its occupants fled once they reached Vieques, a popular tourist destination. No one has been arrested.

It is the largest reported seizure so far this year. Last month, federal authorities said they seized $10 million worth of cocaine off Puerto Rico’s north coast.

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.