(Source: U.S. Navy Photo) Bales of cocaine, seized by a Coast Guard law enforcement team, are shown ready for transport off of the USS Oak Hill, Dec. 9, 2011.
South Florida Crime
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — Bales of cocaine, with a street value of $245 million dollars will never make it to the streets of South Florida or anywhere else for that matter thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard seized the two ton shipment of cocaine off the coast of Honduras.
Authorities in Miami said Thursday that a Coast Guard force operating from the Navy ship U.S.S. Oak Hill discovered the drugs aboard a motorboat. It was stopped in international waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Dec. 2.
The 4,400 pounds of cocaine is worth an estimated $245 million on the street.
The Oak Hill was taking part in an annual deployment of U.S. ships to the Caribbean Sea and Latin American waters when it was asked to intercept the suspected smuggling vessel.
Authorities say cocaine traffickers are increasingly operating from Central American countries as other routes become riskier for them.
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