C.B.P. News Release

CBP Aircraft Spots Freighter with Cocaine; Adds to Record Year

(Wednesday, August 26, 2009)

Washington - A CBP surveillance aircraft patrolling the western Caribbean detected a freighter later found to be smuggling more than 4 tons of cocaine.

Just before midnight, while on a routine patrol, the P-3 aircraft crew detected the 200-foot freighter and passed the position information to the Joint Interagency Task Force-South and the U.S. Coast Guard. A U.S. Coast Guard vessel intercepted and boarded the freighter Saturday.

“The ongoing collaboration between CBP and its interagency law enforcement partners is yielding record-setting results,â€