ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WWSB) – The Coast Guard docked in St. Petersburg with about 1,735 kilograms of cocaine on Wednesday.
The seized cocaine worth was estimated at a wholesale value of $56 million.
Eight suspected drug smugglers were taken into custody.
The detainees were captured from April 12 through April 21 by Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Teams aboard several Coast Guard, foreign coalition and partner agency boats in coastal waters along the Central American coastline.
"Over all, this offload represents our recent success in securing our borders and preventing illegal, regionally destabilizing narcotics from reaching our streets," said Cmdr. Willy Carmichael, assistant branch chief of Coast Guard 7th District Response Enforcement.
