Cocaine and Weapon Found on Barge Off Puerto Rico

The U.S. Coast Guard reported discovering over 500 pounds of cocaine and a gun on a barge off Puerto Rico’s coast. This marks the second such case this year in the same harbor.

On Tuesday, Coast Guard Cutters coordinated with a Homeland Security task force to investigate the Crimson Clover barge in San Juan Harbor. Crewmembers apprehended a stowaway found with the firearm and nine bales of cocaine totaling roughly 524 pounds (237.75 kilograms).

The estimated street value of the cocaine is $4.8 million. Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo later transferred the suspect, weapon, and cocaine to law enforcement at Coast Guard Base San Juan. The suspect remains unidentified.

Images released show the barge, suspected drugs, and officers handling the bales. Lt. Cmdr. Ross Markham commented on the operation’s success, emphasizing the deterrence of smuggling operations that exploit commercial vessels for trafficking.

This arrest and seizure align with intensified U.S. efforts against drug trafficking and human smuggling in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Alongside routine drug interceptions, the Trump administration persists in military actions against suspected drug-running vessels, reporting over 200 deaths.

In February, a stowaway caught with 789 pounds of cocaine was retrieved from a Puerto Rican harbor. The following month, authorities confiscated cocaine valued at $12 million from a northern coast boat.