One boat + 2 men + a bunch of bales. The math added up to $17 million, customs says
A boat heading for Puerto Rico Monday night contained 1,493 pounds of cocaine, worth a street value in Puerto Rico of almost $17 million, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Customs didn’t name the two men arrested on the boat.
The 1,492 pounds works out to approximately 678 kilograms. At $25 a gram, long the street price of cocaine in Puerto Rico, the 678 kilos works out to $16.95 million. In Miami, where cocaine’s low street price is about $55 a gram, it works out to $37,290,000.
Customs said a Puerto Rico Army National Guard helicopter spotted a boat with “two persons on board and multiple bales of suspected contraband” and five people waiting on the shore, near Punta Santiago in Humacao, Puerto Rico. As the helicopter came down, the shore people skedaddled.
Customs’ Air and Marine Operations agents caught the boat at the shoreline and arrested the two men.
