HSI San Juan-led investigation results in 6 narcotics arrests in Fajardo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Juan reported the seizure of a vessel and approximately 238 kilograms of cocaine, plus six arrests for violations of federal law concerning narcotics.
The seizures and arrests are part of a multiagency investigation involving HSI San Juan’s Fajardo suboffice, HSI Santo Domingo, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau’s Fajardo Strike Force.
The investigation revolved around subjects attempting to smuggle narcotics aboard a vessel traveling from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. Marine interdiction agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped the vessel off the coast of Loiza, Puerto Rico, and arrested the subjects, two of whom jumped off the vessel. HSI San Juan responded, seized the narcotics and vessel, and took custody of the subjects.
“This is a perfect example of the collaborations that HSI San Juan leads in order to strike hard the criminal organizations dedicated to the distribution of narcotics in our island," said HSI San Juan acting Special Agent in Charge Rebecca González-Ramos. "We won’t stop our efforts to protect our citizens from those who disseminate fear in communities with dangerous substances and violence.”
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico will prosecute the case.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
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