US Coast Guard Intercepts Drug Smuggling Vessel With Cocaine Worth $7 Million, 3 Arrested

A joint operation by the U.S. Coast Guard and Homeland Security Task Force intercepted a drug-smuggling vessel and arrested three men in Atlantic waters north of Puerto Rico on 14 January 2026.

Authorities seized sixteen bales of cocaine from the vessel, weighing 506 kilograms (1,115 pounds) in total, with a wholesale value estimated at more than $7 million.

The operation began when a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft spotted a 25-foot blue-and-white panga-type go-fast vessel in international waters north of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.

Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan then directed the cutter Joseph Tezanos and a 45-Response Boat Medium crew from Station San Juan to intercept the vessel.

A Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine aircraft also joined the operation, providing aerial surveillance.

Once on scene, the Coast Guard boat crew, with support from the CBP aircrew and the cutter, took control of the vessel.

The three men were taken into custody, and the sixteen bales of contraband tested positive for cocaine.

The suspects and the drugs were later handed over to Homeland Security Task Force law enforcement partners in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Reference: USCG