Aug. 6 (UPI) — Three people were arrested after a major drug bust by U.S. authorities on Wednesday off Puerto Rico turned up some 62 large bales filled with thousand of pounds of cocaine worth roughly $30 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials at U.S. Custom and Border Protection said in a statement<\/a> its Air and Marine Operations, working with the Joint Forces for Rapid Action unit of Puerto Rico’s police agency, nabbed a yola-type vessel with three non-U.S. citizens. The boat carried the 62 bales of cocaine on its way to Cabo Rojo to the island’s the southwest, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three unidentified individuals are from Colombia and Panama, according to U.S. officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Wednesday, AMO’s Caribbean Air and Marine Operations detected a vessel navigating north in the morning hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team intercepted the alleged trafficking boat roughly 2 nautical miles from the coast of Cabo Rojo, where U.S. agents seized 60 “extra-large” and 2 “large” bales filled with what was confirmed to be cocaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agents arrested one Panamanian and 2 Colombian nationals who lacked proper documentation to either be in or enter U.S. territory or waters. CBP did not state if the detainees were male or female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 60 bales contained more than 3,900 pounds of cocaine with its estimated street value at approximately $30.4 million, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday’s sea-faring cocaine bust off Puerto Rico, while large, was smaller by comparison to the 37,000 pounds worth around $275<\/a> million grabbed in February by the U.S. Coast Guard near San Diego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, CBP fell upon 18 pounds of cocaine valued over $4 million in<\/a> a similar incident when agents seized a vessel near Rincon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n