The U.S. Coast Guard says a Dominican Republic man was killed when he opened fire on a boat carrying $11 million worth of cocaine as he tried to flee authorities in the Caribbean.
The Coast Guard eventually caught up with the boat and detained two other suspected smugglers, along with 385 kilograms (850 pounds) of cocaine, who are now awaiting federal prosecution.
“As the United States' primary maritime law enforcement agency, the critical homeland security missions the Coast Guard performs every day are inherently dangerous,” said Lt. Cmdr. Coast Guard District 7 Public Affairs Officer John W. Beal said in a statement. “The Coast Guard takes the loss of life seriously and is investigating the incident in accordance with Coast Guard policy.”
The incident began on January 1, when a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment dispatched to a U.S. Navy ship in the Caribbean on anti-drug patrols identified and stopped a suspected drug smuggling vessel. “We attempted to do so,” the agency said in a statement. .
U.S. Coast Guard seizes 2,450 pounds of cocaine worth $32.2 million in the Caribbean
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell helped lead a recent operation that resulted in two seizures of cocaine totaling 2,450 pounds and worth more than $32 million. A Dominican man was killed in another anti-drug patrol operation in the Caribbean, the Coast Guard said. (US Coast Guard)
“The vessel failed to stop, and the Coast Guard District 7 authorized the use of airborne force, including warning fire and disable fire, in accordance with policy, against a noncompliant vessel suspected of smuggling illegal drugs on the high seas.” continued.
Authorities stopped the ship and boarded it, where they found that “one of the crew members was injured as a result of the use of force.”
Coast Guard finds two dead and rescues three from capsized boat near Sitka, Alaska
Some of the cocaine recently seized by the Caribbean Coast Guard. (US Coast Guard)
The Navy and Coast Guard administered first aid to the person before transporting him to a Navy ship. A Navy helicopter then transported the crew to a medical facility in the Dominican Republic, and authorities announced the next day that the Dominican national had died from his injuries.
The Coast Guard announced that efforts to rescue a crew member who died after an accident in the Caribbean were unsuccessful. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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The Coast Guard reported the death Thursday, days after the Coast Guard announced that the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Margaret Nobel had recently intercepted more than 2,450 pounds of cocaine, worth about $32.2 million, in the Caribbean.
FOX News' Greg Wenner contributed to this report.
