SAN JUAN — The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says security personnel recovered at least 4,188 pounds of cocaine valued about $65 million in Caribbean waters last month.
CBP said on December 18, an Airborne Early Warning crew detected a 45-foot go fast vessel and coordinated with law enforcement officials to interdict it.
The crew later recovered 66 bales of cocaine, totalling 3,781 pounds.
“The President and Secretary of Defense announced the Enhanced Counter Narcotics mission on April 1, 2020; and, since then, the Department of State, Department of Defense and other federal agencies have strengthened our methods and improved operations in order to obstruct the drug shipments from transnational criminal organisations,” said CBP in a statement.
“Air and Marine Operations (AMO) safeguard our nation by anticipating and confronting security threats through our aviation and maritime law enforcement expertise, innovative capabilities, and partnerships at the border and beyond, with about 1,800 US federal agents and mission support personnel, 240 aircraft and 300 marine vessels operating throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.”
In 2020, CBP said AMO enforcement actions resulted in the seizure or disruption of 194,220 pounds of cocaine; 278,492 pounds of marijuana; 15,985 pounds of methamphetamine; 952 weapons and US$51.5 million. Some 1,066 arrests and 47,872 apprehensions of illegal immigrants from the Caribbean and other places were also made.