KINGSTON: U.S. authorities say they seized a haul of cocaine and arrested five suspected smugglers on a disabled fishing boat shortly before it sank off the Dominican Republic.
The U.S. Coast Guard says personnel aboard a cutter arrested three Jamaicans and two Guyanese. They also seized 215 pounds (98 kilograms) of cocaine.
The Guyana-registered fishing boat was stopped south of the Dominican Republic on July 2 while it was rapidly taking on water. Monday’s statement says the U.S. crew found nearly 100 packages of drugs aboard.
The suspects were taken into custody on the U.S. island of Puerto Rico by agents with the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force.
