September 24, 1999
Web posted at: 12:48 a.m. EDT (0448 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- A joint U.S. Coast Guard and Navy operation has netted a 230-pound cocaine seizure off the coast of Jamaica, according to officials. The four bales of cocaine are said to have an estimated street value of $8.5 million.

A Coast Guard spokesman says aerial surveillance crews began tracking a suspicious 30-foot vessel southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, on Wednesday. The Navy crew of the USS Robert G. Bradley joined the operation, chasing the ship into Jamaican territorial waters where it was intercepted by Jamaican Defense Force personnel.

Three people on board were arrested, and the Coast Guard is working with Jamaican authorities to bring charges against them. A sample of the cocaine is being turned over to the Jamaican Defense Force to be used in prosecuting the three suspects.

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Officials say the seizure is the latest in a widespread Coast Guard crackdown on cocaine smuggling. About 53 tons of the drug have been confiscated over the last 12 months, an amount authorities say would have a total street value of $3.7 billion.

"We're going to continue to stop smugglers long before they get to U.S. shores," said Coast Guard spokesman Scott Carr.

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