One suspect in Key Largo cocaine smuggling arrest identified

One of four suspects arrested Thursday in a major anti-drug smuggling operation off both the bay and ocean sides of Key Largo has been identified in a Drug Enforcement Administration arrest affidavit.

Mario Brand, 31, of Miami, was one of three men on a twin-engine Grady White boat that federal agents say delivered at least 32 kilograms of cocaine from the Bahamas to Key Largo. The cocaine was transported to a flats boat outside the Garden Cove Marina, on the ocean side of the island, late Thursday morning. The transaction was seen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents hovering in a helicopter above.

Customs Air and Marine Operations boats gave chase. The men on the flats boats ditched the three packages into the mangroves, which contained 32 kilos of cocaine.

The Grady White docked behind a bayside house in Key Largo, and Brand and two other men not identified in the arrest affidavit ran from federal agents. Agents caught Brand after a short foot chase around noon.

Brand waived his Miranda rights and told agents he was hired for $14,000 to be the boat’s mechanic on a trip from South Florida to Freeport, Bahamas and back, according to the DEA report. Brand originally told agents he did not see anything “out of the ordinary” while in the Bahamas, but later said he knew the Grady White was heading there to pick up the packages.

Names of three other people arrested Thursday have not been released. Law enforcement is looking for two more, according to a source close to the investigation.

The South Florida agents were expecting the cocaine-laden Grady White after receiving a call from DEA agents stationed in Freeport, according to the arrest report.

Brand’s criminal history includes three misdemeanor arrests in Monroe County.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "One suspect in Key Largo cocaine smuggling arrest identified."