US officials seize cocaine from cargo ship off PR
October 1st, 2008 @ 4:29pm

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - U.S. officials say they seized almost two tons of cocaine from a Panama-flagged cargo ship in international waters off Puerto Rico.

U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez says Coast Guard officers boarded the vessel as part of a multi-agency investigation of South American drug traffickers operating in the Caribbean.

They found about 4,255 pounds (1,930 kilograms) of cocaine hidden on the ship, which was loaded with coal and had launched from Colombia.

Rodriguez-Velez said Wednesday that the ship's 10 crew members _ including citizens of Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Nicaragua and Spain _ are in federal custody.

Panama has one of the largest ship registries in the world due to low fees and limited oversight.

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