FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A U.S. Coast Guard crew intercepted a man near Port Everglades smuggling more than 250 kilograms worth of cocaine from the Bahamas over the weekend, according to a federal criminal complaint.
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The complaint states that crews stopped a boat — a 36-foot Sea Ray named “Bella Vita” — for a seaworthiness inspection as it entered the Port Everglades channel at around 6:40 p.m. Saturday.
Investigators said James Edward White, 35, of Miami Gardens, was the only person aboard.
A U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service special agent wrote that the crew found “multiple suitcases” in the vessel’s downstairs living quarters and White told them that “he was coming from the Bahamas and had drugs onboard.”
Authorities said they found 253 individually-wrapped bricks of cocaine, weighing approximately 1 kg each.
According to figures posted by Recovered.org, that would place the total street value of the haul at around $7 million.
The complaint states that White said he was “working for a known alien and narcotics smuggler” who told him he would be picking up migrants but instead his boat was loaded with drugs when he picked it up in Nassau.
Investigators said his intended destination was Nautical Ventures Marina at 4470 Anglers Ave. in Dania Beach.
White is now facing federal charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and attempting to import a controlled substance.
According to online records, he was scheduled to make an initial appearance in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Monday morning.
He was being held in the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service, jail records show.