At approximately 1 a.m. on July 19, a C-12 aircraft assigned to ICE’s Air & Marine Operations (AMO) unit in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, detected a suspicious small boat 10 miles Southwest of the town of Ponce. Upon detecting the suspect vessel, the C-12 crew alerted ICE agents in Ponce, who immediately responded to intercept the boat.

The vessel, bound for the southern coast of Puerto Rico, was occupied by two citizens of the Dominican Republic and carried 270 kilos of cocaine. ICE agents also arrested the six-member crew of the mother boat, an 80-foot fishing vessel with the call sign “Buena Mosa.” Furthermore, ICE arrested another three individuals – two Dominicans and one Cuban citizen – who were allegedly waiting to receive the contraband at the beach.

The 10 Dominicans and one Cuban were confined to the federal prison facility in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. They will be charged today with conspiracy to import a controlled substance. If convicted, each of the suspects could receive a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

This is the second major cocaine seizure off the Puerto Rican coast in the last three days. On Saturday, ICE agents seized 449 kilos of cocaine and another three kilos of heroin in an at-sea interception off the coast of Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for the enforcement of border, economic, infrastructure and transportation security laws. ICE seeks to prevent acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money and materials that support terror and criminal networks.