An operation conducted jointly between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) ended in the seizure of 2,325 pounds of cocaine from a vessel in Puerto Rico last week.
That cocaine has a street value of $29.6 million, all of it left aboard an abandoned vessel on the island’s Las Paulinas beach. It was stacked in 48 bales therein. An investigation of the bizarre circumstance is still underway by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
“HSI is committed to working with our federal, state and local counterparts to stop the movement of contraband in the Caribbean,” Iván J. Arvelo, special agent in charge of HSI San Juan, said. “Those involved in drug trafficking should know that the Caribbean is no longer an option to transship narcotics into the United States.”
The CCSF is an initiative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office meant to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking in the Caribbean and is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. It frequently works with the HSI, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Coast Guard, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Police Department’s Joint Forces for Rapid Action.