Federal crews cut off a pair of suspected smuggling runs off Fort Lauderdale last week, seizing about 745 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of roughly $5.6 million. The operation unfolded in the approaches to Port Everglades, where Coast Guard law enforcement teams and federal partners moved in before the drugs could get anywhere near shore.
Two Smuggling Boats Stopped Near Port Everglades
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, a Station Fort Lauderdale law enforcement boat crew teamed up with a Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations K9 unit to intercept a suspected smuggling vessel near the Fort Lauderdale sea buoy last Monday. A second vessel was stopped on Wednesday about seven miles east of Port Everglades.
Searches of both boats turned up bundled packages that weighed in at roughly 745 pounds in total, the Coast Guard said. The drugs and the two vessels were taken into federal custody as evidence while investigators continue their follow up work…