San Diego

A damaged Coast Guard cutter docked in San Diego on Friday with more than 3,000 pounds of confiscated marijuana and the seven-member crew of the Panamanian ship it was taken from, said Petty Officer Tom Heflick, a Coast Guard spokesman. The crew, which consisted of one Panamanian, one Filipino and five Americans, was taken into custody by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center on suspicion of smuggling marijuana, DEA agent Steve Lough said. The Panamanian ship, Pacific Star, was intercepted Monday 680 miles southwest of San Diego by the Coast Guard cutter Citrus after the Navy and Coast Guard had been asked to search for the ship by the DEA. Heflick said that, as the Citrus approached the Pacific Star, a fire broke out on board the Pacific Star and the ship turned into the path of the Coast Guard cutter, colliding amidships with the cutter. The Panamanian ship sank, but not before scores of small packages of marijuana floated from a hole in the ship, authorities said.