see also: in October 2007 News Releases:   Cocaine Smuggler Tries To Trick El Paso CBP Officers by Hiding Drugs in Car Body   Border Patrol Agents in Texas Seize Marijuana Worth $1 Million Hidden Under Watermelons   Fingerprint Check Allows Border Patrol to Arrest Murder Suspect   Border Patrol Texas Task Force Seizes 500 Pounds of Marijuana   CBP Officers at Mail Facility Find Marijuana in Cement Statues, Opium   Tecate, Calif. Cargo Processing Port to Resume Operations Wednesday Morning   CBP at Newark Airport Discovers Man with Fraudulent Documents, False Claim to U.S. Citizenship ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Washington — While patrolling the Eastern Pacific west of Ecuador, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air interdiction agents successfully directed the interception of an estimated three metric tons of cocaine mixed with diesel fuel loaded on a fishing vessel.

Tasked September 25 by the Joint Interagency Task Force-South, a CBP P-3 aircraft, based at the operations center in Corpus Christi, Texas, located a suspect fishing boat and vectored a U.S. Naval vessel in the area for the interdiction. U.S. Coast Guard personnel aboard the Navy vessel boarded and searched the vessel “Mar Pacifico” to inspect for contraband. A search of the vessel confirmed the presence of cocaine.

On Sept. 27, U.S. Coast Guard personnel discovered pipes behind panels inside the bulkhead. An estimated 2,325 gallons of a brown, syrupy substance consistent with liquid cocaine was found inside the 8-inch pipe. Eight Colombian nationals were detained during the operation.

This is the second seizure of liquefied cocaine known to the task force. During the first interception, which occurred April 26, U.S. personnel found 10,913 pounds of liquid cocaine. At that time, a CBP P-3 aircraft, based at P-3 Operations Center-Corpus Christi, Texas, detected suspect fishing vessel “Emperador.”

During this 15-hour operation, U.S. Air interdiction agents successfully directed a U.S. Coast Guard vessel for the interdiction. When Coast Guard personnel boarded the vessel, they found 3,850 gallons of an unknown diesel fuel mix determined in the lab to be cocaine.

Close cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense and other Department of Homeland Security agencies shown in these cases enhances national security by preventing illegal narcotics, terrorists, and weapons from being smuggled into the U.S.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.