Customs agents make big cocaine arrests over the holidays

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations agents had a busy holiday season patrolling the Caribbean, intercepting more than 4,700 pounds of cocaine they estimate to have a wholesale value of almost $62 million.

The Customs crews are based both in Miami and the Caribbean and used “sophisticated maritime surveillance equipment to detect multiple drug-smuggling vessels as part of multi-agency operations around the holidays,” the agency said in a statement.

On Dec. 21, a CBP boat crew found a “suspicious go-fast vessel” south of the Dominican Republic. They contacted the Dominican Navy, which recovered 17 bales and seized more than 1,760 pounds of cocaine.

The day before, a Customs air crew observed a “suspicious vessel” in what it describes as “international waters” and coordinated with the U.S Coast Guard. Two people were arrested and about 2,205 pounds of cocaine were confiscated.

On Dec. 18, a CBP DHC-8 aircraft spotted a sailboat and contacted the Dominican Navy, which stopped the vessel. Onboard were 770 pounds of cocaine and “numerous electronic devices.”

The holiday patrol was dubbed “Operation Full Court Press” by the CBP, “leveraging interagency partnerships to target maritime smuggling organizations responsible for cocaine trafficking throughout the Caribbean to the United States and elsewhere for distribution.”

The CBP Air and Marine Operations gauges its arrests and interdictions by fiscal years beginning Oct. 1. In fiscal year 2017, the agency seized 269,790 pounds of cocaine, 384,230 pounds of marijuana, 5,721 pounds of methamphetamine, 1,089 weapons and $22.1 million, according to a press release.

Agents also arrested 2,573 people of various nationalities and arrested 37,009 people in the United States illegally.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Customs agents make big cocaine arrests over the holidays."