ST. PETERSBURG — A Coast Guard patrol boat off-loaded more than 1.7 metric tons of cocaine in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, the result of four separate seizures made in the waters along the Central American coastline. The drugs were seized from April 12 to April 21, Coast Guard officials said.
In one incident, a U.S. Navy patrol boat and a Dutch naval frigate captured a small fishing boat 120 miles southwest of Puerto Rico. Hidden aboard the tiny vessel: 750 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated wholesale value of $22.5 million. Five suspects were detained for drug smuggling.
Together, those drugs and the cocaine seized in three other cases were valued at $56 million. The contraband and eight total suspects were loaded onto a St. Petersburg-based patrol boat, which later dropped off its cargo to other federal agencies.
"This off-load represents our recent success in securing our borders and preventing illegal, regionally destabilizing narcotics from reaching our streets," Coast Guard Cmdr. Willy Carmichael said.