{"id":60241,"date":"2018-02-02T23:50:54","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T23:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=60241"},"modified":"2018-02-03T00:20:41","modified_gmt":"2018-02-03T00:20:41","slug":"cbp-fbi-seize-292-lbs-of-cocaine-inside-vessel-leaving-u-s-virgin-islands-towards-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=60241","title":{"rendered":"CBP, FBI Seize 292 lbs. Of Cocaine Inside Vessel Leaving U.S. Virgin Islands Towards Puerto Rico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\" lang=\"EN\">ST. THOMAS &#8212; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)\u00a0<span class=\"\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/border-security\/air-sea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Air and Marine Operations (AMO)<\/a>\u00a0agents\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"\">along with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized 292 pounds (132 kilos) of cocaine concealed inside two hidden compartments in a vessel<\/span><span class=\"\" lang=\"EN\">\u00a0intercepted leaving from\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"\">St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, towards Puerto Rico<\/span><span class=\"\" lang=\"EN\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">On Feb.1, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment against four defendants charged with Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Cocaine and Conspiracy to Import a Controlled Substance, announced Rosa Emilia Rodr\u00edguez-V\u00e9lez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\" lang=\"EN\">\u201cAMO crews remain vigilant of any attempts to smuggle narcotics through various maritime routes and work with our partners to deter them,\u201d said Johnny Morales, Director of Air Operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">On Jan. 27, a CBP St. Thomas Marine Unit intercepted a vessel after it had left Crown Bay Marina in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI).\u00a0 The vessel navigated towards Puerto Rico.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Due to the rough sea conditions, the crew escorted the vessel back to the Crown Bay cruise ship dock in the USVI where a CBP K9 inspected the vessel. During a subsequent inspection of the vessel, agents discovered a hidden compartment inside the vessel. Inside this hidden compartment, agents recovered approximately 55 brick shaped objects, which later tested positive for the characteristics of cocaine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">On Jan. 28, the FBI with the help of the United States Attorney\u2019s Office in the District of the Virgin Islands obtained a search warrant for the vessel. During a thorough search of the vessel, St. Thomas Marine Unit agents found an additional 56 brick shaped objects, which later tested positive for the characteristics of cocaine.\u00a0 The kilograms of cocaine were located in a hidden compartment under the carpet holding a bolted down table in the bow of the vessel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">At the time of the interdiction, there were four individuals on board, all of whom were indicted in the District of Puerto Rico: Maximiliano F\u00edgaro-Benjam\u00edn and Emiliano F\u00edgaro-Benjam\u00edn, United States Permanent Resident Card holders from the Dominican Republic; Alexandria Andino-Rodr\u00edguez, a United States Citizen; and Katerin Martinez-Alberto, a United States Permanent Resident Card holder from Switzerland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">A total of 111 bricks of cocaine were seized from the defendants, weighing 292 pounds (132 kilos). The estimated wholesale value of the narcotics is over $5 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation along with agents from the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), with the collaboration of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO), CBP Air and Marine Operations (CBP AMO), CBP United States Border Patrol (CBP USBP), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and PR Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA). The CCSF is an initiative of the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office created to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations operating in the Caribbean. CCSF is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which investigates South American-based drug trafficking organizations responsible for the movement of multi-kilogram quantities of narcotics using the Caribbean as a transshipment point for further distribution to the United States. The initiative is composed of DEA, HSI, FBI, US Coast Guard, US Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, and PRPD&#8217;s Joint Forces for Rapid Action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart J. Zander and Laura Montes are in charge of the prosecution of the case, under the supervision of Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia D\u00edaz-Rex, Deputy Chief of the International Narcotics Unit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span class=\"\">If convicted the defendants face a minimum sentence of 10 years, and up to life in prison. Indictments contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ST. THOMAS &#8212; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)\u00a0Air and Marine Operations (AMO)\u00a0agents\u00a0along with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized 292 pounds (132 kilos) of cocaine concealed inside two hidden compartments in a vessel\u00a0intercepted leaving from\u00a0St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, towards Puerto Rico.\u00a0 On Feb.1, a federal grand jury in the District of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":60244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,4400,11,191,2474,147],"tags":[7855,7856,7853,7854],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>CBP, FBI Seize 292 lbs. 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