Coast Guard seizes 800 pounds of marijuana

MIAMI - Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback offloaded 47 bricks of marijuana, nearly 800 pounds, at Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Saturday.

Following reports of a suspicious vessel traveling west from Bimini, Bahamas, a 33-foot Special Purpose Law Enforcement Craft from Station Fort Lauderdale and Diamondback crews located a 20-foot U.S.-flagged, white-hulled vessel around midnight, Saturday.

Station Fort Lauderdale and Diamondback crews boarded the vessel to conduct an initial safety inspection and made a plain view discovery of nearly 800 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated street value of $725,000.

The two suspected smugglers aboard the vessel were detained and taken aboard the Diamondback and later transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. The vessel and the marijuana were transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP officers in Fort Lauderdale.

Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback is an 87-foot coastal patrol boat homeported in Miami.

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