AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico, CMC – The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency on Friday said that agents from its Air and Marine Operations (AMO) unit earlier this week arrested three non-citizens transporting inside a “yola” vessel 384 pounds (174.4 kilograms) of cocaine near Mona Island, off Puerto Rico, with an estimated street value of about US$ 4.3 million.
“This successful interdiction near Mona Island is a testament to the dedication of our Air and Marine agents,” said Creighton Skeen, acting director of Air and Marine Operations in the Caribbean.
“Our collective efforts have dealt a significant blow to criminal enterprises seeking to exploit our maritime borders for illicit activities,” he added. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to securing our communities and preventing the harmful effects of drug trafficking.”
CBP said that during a routine patrol, the AMO Multi-Role Enforcement Aircraft (MEA) crew detected a “lights-out vessel moving east located northwest of Mona Island.”
“The MEA crew maintained surveillance of the vessel to assist an AMO Marine unit to reach the vessel,” CBP said.
“The vessel captain failed to heave, and the other occupants started dumping bales into the water.
“The Marine Interdiction agents stopped the vessel and arrested the three vessel occupants, one Venezuelan and two Dominican Republic nationals,” it added. “The crew of a Marine unit recovered three bales from the water.”
CBP said the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and US Homeland Security Investigations took custody of the three men and the cocaine for investigation and prosecution.
“The dedication of all maritime surveillance assets is crucial to the success of the mission at hand,” said DEA’s Caribbean Division Special Agent in Charge Denise Foster.
“We will continue to work with our counterparts and allocate all our law enforcement resources to make a more significant impact in vulnerable areas where criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking are causing more substantial damage.
“These individuals pose the greatest threat to the safety and health of our citizens,” she added.
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