AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico -- US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) air and marine units on Wednesday night intercepted a vessel with 47 bricks of cocaine near the Cabo Rojo lighthouse, Puerto Rico.
Near midnight the crew of the CBP Caribbean Air and Marine Branch (CAMB) DHC-8 aircraft detected a vessel traveling east without navigational lights towards Cabo Rojo, on the southwest coast of the island.
The aircraft notified a CBP Mayaguez Marine Unit Interceptor with the position of the suspect vessel.
Upon initial contact with the operator and crewmember of the vessel it failed to heave to and continued heading towards Puerto Rico, performing erratic evasive maneuvers and began to jettison overboard gasoline containers, as well as what appeared to be bales.
As the suspect vessel collided with the CBP Interceptor, the two individuals aboard the vessel dumped a gas container overboard and jumped in the water.
The CBP unit rescued and detained the two individuals and recovered three bales, finding inside 47 bricks of suspected contraband, which later tested positive to cocaine.
The 47 bricks weighed 123.68 pounds/56.1 kilos of cocaine, with an estimated value of $1.4 million.
The individuals, claiming to be citizens of the Dominican Republic, and the contraband were transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.
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