Vessel Adrift With Suspected Cocaine Cargo Is Seized by Navy
A Colombian fishing vessel believed to be carrying 5,000 pounds of cocaine was seized after a Navy ship found it adrift off the coast of Central America, officials said Monday.
Most of the cocaine, with an estimated street value of about $2.3 billion, was dumped into the ocean by the crew of the fishing vessel as Navy sailors videotaped the scene, said Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer John Hollis.
The crew of nine Colombian men was taken to the federal jail in San Diego pending arraignment on drug charges, he said.
About 300 pounds of the drug were recovered, making the seizure among the largest on the West Coast since joint Navy-Coast Guard operations to stop drug smuggling were launched in 1988, Hollis said.
The 90-foot fishing vessel, dead in the water because of a mechanical breakdown, signaled to the San Diego-based destroyer Merrill for help last Saturday, Hollis said. The crew of the fishing boat Don Jacinto said they had been adrift for 16 days in waters about 750 miles off the Nicaraguan-Costa Rican coast.
Navy personnel became suspicious about the boat and called the Coast Guard for assistance, Hollis said.
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