Federal agents on Wednesday seized $33 million worth of cocaine aboard a boat that was trying to smuggle the drug into the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques, officials said, marking at least the third major bust in the U.S. territory since July.
More than 3,600 pounds were confiscated in the pre-dawn hours after unidentified people aboard the boat beached it and fled the area, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Vieques is located just east of Puerto Rico and is a popular tourist destination.
Agents were able to recover the boat from the shallow waters and the FBI took custody the drugs and vessel for investigation, officials said.
"This operation highlights our relentless commitment to border security and the protection of our citizens from the dangers of illicit narcotics," said Christopher Hunter, director of Air and Marine Operations in the Caribbean.
The seizure comes just days after U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Puerto Rico police seized more than $5 million worth of cocaine aboard a boat near the western coastal town of Rincon. More than 580 pounds were confiscated, and two U.S. citizens were arrested on Sunday, officials said.
Last week, federal agents seized $6 million worth of cocaine and arrested two men from the Dominican Republic in waters south of Puerto Rico.
In July, Puerto Rico police seized $4.6 million worth of cocaine aboard a boat near the western coastal town of Rincon. More than 580 pounds were confiscated, and two U.S. citizens were arrested on Sunday, officials said.
Puerto Rico has long served as a transit point for drugs being smuggled into the U.S. mainland and Europe.
In June, the U.S. Coast Guard said it offloaded more than 4,800 pounds of cocaine worth over $63 million at a port in Florida after officials said Coast Guard officers fired at and sank a speedboat suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea.
About a week before that, a separate Coast Guard crew offloaded $468 million worth of cocaine in San Diego. That haul was the result of eight separate operations off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America.
Bricks of cocaine have also been washing up on Florida beaches in recent months -- at least five times since the beginning of the year.
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