Coast Guard stops boat carrying 80 to 90 bales of pot in O.C.
A sailboat carrying 80 to 90 bales of marijuana ran aground in Newport Beach on Monday after the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to stop and board it, authorities said.
During a routine patrol, a Coast Guard crew spotted a sailboat entering Newport Harbor near Balboa Island and decided to board it for an equipment check, authorities said.
As Coast Guard officials approached at 1 a.m., the sailboat veered right and came ashore at Ruby Avenue and South Bayfront.
Two men jumped from the boat and ran away, authorities said.
Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino said no one was in custody by 2 p.m.
The Coast Guard discovered the marijuana and handed it and the boat over to Homeland Security Investigations’ Los Angeles Border Enforcement Security Task force, officials said.
[Updated, 4:15 p.m. June 3: A search of the boat turned up about a ton of marijuana valued at $1 million, said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.]
The stop was considered routine.
“We do safety boardings randomly on vessels,” said Coast Guard spokesman Seth Johnson. “It just so happened that they had a lot of pot on board.”
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lauren.williams@latimes.com
@laurenwilliams
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