US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) agents interdicted Thursday a vessel concealing 672 pounds (305 kilos) of cocaine northwest of the coast of Aguadilla. The estimated value is $ 6.4 million.
“Transnational criminal organizations are relentless in attempting to smuggle contraband,” Augusto Reyes, Director of the Caribbean Air and Marine Branch. “AMO agents are committed to use all our capabilities to interdict them throughout our area.”
On June 2, Mayaguez Marine Interdiction Agents conducting a patrol approached for inspection a vessel navigating east towards Aguadilla.
Agents inspected the two occupants, US citizens and escorted the vessel to the Mayaguez boathouse for investigation.
On the shore AMO agents requested assistance from a Puerto Rico Police Department K-9 who alerted to the presence of a smell it is trained to detect.
The AMO agents inspected the vessel finding a hidden compartment containing 305 bricks of a white powdery substance which tested positive for the properties of cocaine.
The day before, June 2, AMO agents interdicted a vessel near Rincon finding 794 pounds of cocaine concealed inside the vessel.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents took custody of two men and the contraband for prosecution and investigation.
AMO safeguards 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 approximately 1,800 federal agents and mission support personnel, 240 aircraft, and 300 marine vessels operating throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands, AMO conducts its mission in the air and maritime environments at and beyond the border, and within the nation's interior.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.
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