In a major early morning operation at San Juan Harbor, a stowaway smuggler was arrested, and nearly 800 pounds of cocaine were seized, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials. The cocaine, valued at over $5 million, was discovered during the operation.
The events took place around 6 a.m. on January 28, when the tug Signet Thunder was towing a barge named San Juan-Jax Bridge to the Old Army Terminal. While on route, a crew member from an assist tug boarded the barge and found a stowaway, which led to an immediate call to Coast Guard Sector San Juan using VHF Channel 16.
Coast Guard watchstanders quickly initiated a response from Station San Juan and alerted their partners in the Homeland Security Task Force, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Caribbean Air and Marine Branch and local Puerto Rico Police marine units. An Urgent Marine Information Broadcast was issued to alert nearby vessels.
Responding crews soon found a suspect in the water along with 10 bales of suspected cocaine. The total weight of the drugs was approximately 358 kilograms (about 789 pounds), with a wholesale value exceeding $5 million. The suspect was taken into custody and is facing federal drug trafficking charges.
After the drugs were recovered, Coast Guard Sector Boarding Team members and CBP officers conducted a thorough inspection of both the tug and the barge, and no additional stowaways or illegal items were found. The suspect and the seized drugs were handed over to the Homeland Security Task Force at Coast Guard Base San Juan.
Cmdr. Matthew Romano, chief of response for Sector San Juan, praised the strong teamwork between the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and Puerto Rico Police units. He also commended the crew of the Signet Thunder for their vigilance, highlighting their important role in keeping U.S. waters safe.
The Coast Guard noted that this seizure is part of a larger government effort to patrol maritime areas in the Eastern Caribbean and to disrupt drug trafficking, human smuggling, and criminal networks at sea.