Coast Guard offloads $829 thousand in cocaine, transfers 9 suspects to DEA authorities in Puerto Rico

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier transferred custody of 79 kilograms of cocaine and nine suspects to federal authorities in Puerto Rico, Monday.  The seized contraband is estimated to have a wholesale value of $829 thousand dollars, and the interdiction is the result of multi-agency efforts involving Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy, the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force Initiative and Operation Unified Resolve.  The Drug Enforcement Administration, in collaboration with the Coast Guard Investigative Service and Homeland Security Investigations, is leading the investigation in this case.