MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded about 1,100 kilograms of cocaine and more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana Tuesday in Miami Beach.
The drugs are estimated to be valued at about $41 million and were intercepted in the Caribbean Sea.
Coast Guard officials said the marijuana was seized Sept. 20 after a Coast Guard plane spotted a suspicious go-fast boat in the water southeast of Isla Saona, Dominican Republic.
The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon intercepted the boat. Officials said the suspected smugglers tossed some of the drugs overboard.
Forty-nine bales of marijuana were recovered, and three suspects were taken into custody.
"This is a record year for the Coast Guard," Capt. Melissa Bert, chief of staff for the Coast Guard Seventh District, told Local 10 News. "We have seized more vessels. We have arrested more suspects. We've had more cases than ever in our history."
Since October 2014, the Coast Guard has seized about $4.3 billion worth of cocaine, the most since 2008, and has caught nearly 500 suspected smugglers for prosecution.
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