Nearly 3,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $35 million was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard from two vessels in the Caribbean Sea, officials said Monday.
The first cocaine catch was made Sept. 3 when crew members of Coast Guard Cutter Diligence stopped a 35-foot fishing vessel in the Western Caribbean.
On board, crew members found a whopping 2,808 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $34 million, Coast Guard officials said. Four suspected smugglers on the boat were taken into custody and transferred to federal law enforcement officials at Guantanamo Bay.
The second stop was made on Sept. 16, when the Diligence spotted a fishing vessel in the Eastern Caribbean and found 54 packages containing 119 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $1.5 million.
Five suspected smugglers were detained and transferred to the District of U.S. Virgin Islands.
The cocaine was offloaded in Key West on Friday.
