CBP Assists in $30M Cocaine Seizure Near Honduras

Washington U.S. Customs and Border Protections Office of Air and Marine assisted in the disruption of more than $30 million worth of contraband earlier this month. On May 12, a Jacksonville-based P-3 aircrew on a Joint Interagency Task Force-South patrol mission detected a surface target of interest northeast of Nicaragua. P-3 crews obtained radar and visual contact of a 40-foot go-fast vessel with four persons on board. Assets observed the presence of 16 barrels of fuel and 35 to 40 bales of contraband. P-3 aircrews alerted a nearby U.S. Coast Guard Cutter and Honduran law enforcement. USCG launched a rugged hulled inflatable boat, while Honduran law enforcement launched a helicopter and two maritime chase vessels to intercept. CBP aircraft observed the vessel dump six bales before being intercepted by a Honduran law enforcement maritime vessel. Honduran law enforcement boarded the vessel 20 miles east of the Honduran/Nicaraguan border and recovered 36 bales containing 2,420 pounds of cocaine. Four suspects were taken into custody by local authorities.