The Puerto Rican police dealt a strong blow to drug trafficking on Wednesday with the seizure of 1,050 blocks of cocaine, valued at 18.2 million dollars, in Guánica, in the south of the island.
The Police Commissioner, Antonio López Figueroa, reported that the occupation was carried out in a boat stopped at Caña Azul Beach that borders Punta Brea, in Guánica.
Agents found 42 bales of cocaine on the boat, containing 1,050 blocks, valued at approximately $ 18,235,000 in the illegal market, according to the statement.
López Figueroa explained that the intervention is the product of the Coastal Surveillance Plan of the United Forces Rapid Action Bureau (FURA), through its Ponce Air, Maritime and Guánica area divisions and Ponce Maritime.
"I congratulate my police officers from these units, who are keeping watch on our coasts, for this important seizure. This will remove a significant amount of controlled substances from our streets.", he stressed.
The director of FURA, Lieutenant Colonel José M. Rodríguez Rivera, indicated that the arrest occurred after the tactical observer of the helicopter assigned to the southern zone spotted a boat that seemed suspicious to him.
The boat, 35 feet long, Bowen brand and blue, was manned by two people who, when detected by the Police, fled quickly.
So far this year, FURA has seized 19,464,273 kilos of cocaine in Puerto Rico, with a value of 428.2 million dollars, according to police data.
The island is both a final destination for these drugs and an entry point to the continental United States, as the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico indicated today.
These statements were made when giving details about the extradition from Colombia to Puerto Rico of the alleged Dominican drug trafficker César Emilio Peralta, alias "The abuser", who faces a possible sentence of between 10 years in prison and life in prison if convicted.
"Some of that drug always stays in Puerto Rico for local distribution, but most of it goes to certain cities on the east coast of the United States such as Philadelphia, New York, Newark and Orlando.", the first assistant to the federal prosecutor, Héctor Ramírez Carbó, detailed about that case.
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