Six people were taken into custody Saturday after a boat with 750 pound of marijuana was intercepted by the Coast Guard off the coast of Boca Raton.
Officials said a Coast Guard cutter conducted a safety boarding of a 35-foot sport fisher about 11 miles east of Boca Raton.
As the cutter crew came alongside the vessel, they saw a package being jettisoned overboard, which was later recovered by a Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale crew.
The cutter crew discovered an additional 17 bales and three packages aboard -- seizing about 750 pounds of marijuana.
Aboard the intercepted vessel were three Bahamians, two Jamaicans and one Guyanese.
"This interdiction is a direct success of our focused efforts to defeat these transnational criminal networks," said Cmdr. Willie Carmichael, acting chief of enforcement for Seventh Coast Guard District said in a news release. "Our newest fast response cutters have proven critical in defending our maritime border, which these criminal organizations seek to exploit."
The Coast Guard says they are constantly patrolled the waters between the Bahamas and Florida to detect, deter and stop drug smuggling.
Miami-based @USCG cutter crew intercepts suspected drug-smuggling operation. Read more here https://t.co/AapLy0K5jb#ProtectingOurBoarders
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) May 28, 2017