Coast Guard unloads major drug haul in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A U.S. Coast Guard official in Puerto Rico says the agency has made the largest seizure of cocaine in the region in years from a boat off South America’s northeastern coast.

Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad says a preliminary analysis puts the haul at 4.2 tons, with an estimated street value of $125 million. That would make it the largest found in the Atlantic since 1999.

The illicit cargo was unloaded Monday from the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Napier was patrolling along with the coast guard of Trinidad and Tobago on Feb. 16 when they stopped and searched a 70-foot fishing boat in international waters off Suriname.

Four men from Guyana on board the vessel are in custody in the U.S. Virgin Islands.