SAN JUAN — The Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark transferred custody of three suspected smugglers and an estimated $6.6 million in seized cocaine to federal agents at Coast Guard Base San Juan Friday, following the interdiction of a drug smuggling vessel in the Mona Passage near Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
The suspected smugglers are males, Dominican Republic nationals, who now face criminal charges by Department of Justice prosecution partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.
The interdiction resulted from multi-agency efforts in support of U.S. Southern Command’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) programs, and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF).
“This successful interdiction is the result of the strong partnerships and excellent coordination achieved daily between Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice law enforcement agencies combating transnational smuggling organizations in the Caribbean,” said Capt. Gregory Magee, Sector San Juan Commander. “These efforts serve to protect the nation’s southernmost maritime border and our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from this nefarious threat.”
The bust occurred Tuesday night, after the aircrew of a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch maritime patrol aircraft detected a suspicious go-fast vessel in international waters just off Mona Island.
The Coast Guard Cutter Valiant diverted in pursuit and with the assistance of the cutter’s small boat successfully interdicted the suspect go-fast vessel. Following the interdiction, Cutter Valiant’s boarding team and crew seized over 236 kilograms of cocaine.
The crew of the cutter Valiant embarked the three men from the go-fast vessel and later transferred them, along with the seized contraband, to the Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark for transport and offload in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where CCSF federal agents received custody.
Cutters Valiant is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla, while the cutter Reef Shark in an 87-foot coastal patrol boat homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) is a multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force group operating in the District of Puerto Rico focusing on Caribbean and South American-based Transnational Criminal Organizations involved in the maritime and air smuggling shipments of narcotics from Puerto Rico to the Continental U.S. and in the laundering of drug proceeds using bulk cash smuggling and sophisticated laundering activities. CCSF signatory agencies include the DEA, HSI, FBI, CGIS, USMS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.