Coast Guard seizes 1,239 pounds of cocaine from "narco sub"

The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that it had offloaded more than $54 million worth of cocaine that was intercepted in the Caribbean Sea in a "complex counter-drug mission" — including over 1,200 pounds of cocaine that was seized from a semisubmersible vessel, or so-called "narco sub."

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Diligence offloaded more than 4,125 pounds of cocaine with an street value of about $54 million in Port Everglades, Florida, on Monday, the Coast Guard said in a news release . The drugs were seized in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea during three separate operations.

On Aug. 26, Coast Guard ships and helicopters were assisted by a British Royal Navy team on HMS Trent on a mission to intercept a narco sub in international waters, officials said. Three suspected smugglers and 1,239 pounds of cocaine from the semisubmersible were transferred to federal custody, said the Coast Guard, which released an image of the operation.

Semi-submersibles, which cannot go fully underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers as they can sometimes elude detection by law enforcement. The vessels are sometimes seized in Colombian waters while heading to the United States, Central America and Europe. Earlier this summer, the Colombian Navy said it seized two "narco subs" off the country's Pacific coast that together contained almost 5 tons of cocaine.

In addition to the narco sub interception, the Coast Guard said eight other suspected smugglers were detained in the operations and will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

"I am extremely proud of our crew's tenacity and professionalism, coupled with outstanding coordination with Coast Guard aircrews, during this complex counter-drug mission," Lt. Matthew Carmine, Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier commanding officer, said in a statement.

The busts were announced just days after federal agents seized $33 million worth of cocaine aboard a boat that was trying to smuggle the drug into Puerto Rico, officials said, marking at least the third major bust in the U.S. territory since July.

In June, the U.S. Coast Guard said it offloaded more than 4,800 pounds of cocaine in Florida after officials said Coast Guard officers fired at and sank a speedboat suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea.

About a week before that, a separate Coast Guard crew offloaded $468 million worth of cocaine in San Diego .