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- 660 pounds of cocaine seized by feds from boat near Puerto Rico (newsbreak.com)
During a fishing trip in the Keys, the Tampa mayor inadvertently found herself reeling in a catch that contained cocaine, valued at a significant amount.
Federal authorities recently apprehended two individuals from the Dominican Republic and confiscated cocaine worth around $6 million in the maritime regions south of Puerto Rico, as reported on Thursday. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered the drugs, weighing over 660 pounds, on a boat navigating the waters south of this U.S. territory last Wednesday.
This incident marks yet another substantial drug bust in the vicinity of Puerto Rico this year, following a July operation where agents seized cocaine valued at $4.6 million to the west of the island, resulting in the arrest of two Americans.
Puerto Rico is recognized as a key hub for the transit of narcotics headed to the mainland U.S. and other nations.
In a related event detailed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, their Air and Marine Operations intercepted a vessel near Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico, on July 11, indicating ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking in the region.
Moreover, the U.S. Coast Guard reported the offloading of cocaine valued over $63 million in Florida, sourced from a speedboat in the Caribbean Sea that the Coast Guard had intercepted and sunk. Just a week prior to this, another Coast Guard team offloaded cocaine worth $468 million in San Diego, accumulated from eight separate interdictions off the coasts of Mexico, Central, and South America.
There has also been an increase in cocaine bricks washing ashore on Florida beaches, with at least five such incidents recorded since the start of the year.
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- 660 pounds of cocaine seized by feds from boat near Puerto Rico (newsbreak.com)