Coast Guard intercepts suspected drug-smuggling operation

News Release

May 28, 2017 U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Southeast Contact: 7th District Public Affairs Office: (305) 415-6683 After Hours: (786) 367-7649

Coast Guard intercepts suspected drug-smuggling operation 

MIAMI — The Coast Guard intercepted six persons involved in a suspected drug-smuggling case Saturday for further investigation and possible prosecution. 

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber, homeported in Miami, conducted a safety boarding Saturday of a 35-foot sport fisher approximately 11 miles east of Boca Raton. As the cutter crew came alongside the vessel, they saw a package being jettisoned overboard, which was later recovered by a Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale crew.

The Webber crew discovered an additional 17 bales and three packages aboard, and seized approximately 750 pounds of marijuana.

Aboard the intercepted vessel were three Bahamians, two Jamaicans and one Guyanese.

"This interdiction is a direct success of our focused efforts to defeat these transnational criminal networks," said Cmdr. Willie Carmichael, acting chief of enforcement for Seventh Coast Guard District. "Our newest fast response cutters have proven critical in defending our maritime border, which these criminal organizations seek to exploit."

Approximately 45 miles separate the South Florida and Bahamian coasts, which is constantly patrolled by the Coast Guard and other law enforcement partners to detect, deter and stop illegal smuggling ventures.

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-USCG-