CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Seized Fishing Boat Will Be Searched

Crews worked to unload fuel tanks on a 90-foot fishing boat seized in a drug raid off the coast in the Bay Area so the boat could be searched for hidden compartments, the Coast Guard said. No contraband was immediately found on the boat, which was seized off Half Moon Bay and towed to San Francisco after San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies spotted a suspected drug-smuggling operation along the coast, the Coast Guard said. Twelve men--seven on shore and five aboard the vessel--were arrested, and federal and state officials combed a 20-mile stretch of coastline for drugs they suspect were dumped from the trawler. Five pounds of marijuana was seized on shore near Pescadero, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, deputies said. The arrests and seizure came after deputies spotted several people on California 1 throwing something from a bridge, authorities said.