‘Miami Vice’-style Coke Bust on the Miami River
A routine search operation by the Customs and Border Protection on those vessels that come in from Haiti along the Miami River resulted in finding cocaine hidden aboard the Haitian freighter, Lisanne. Agents found about 2,000 pounds of cocaine hidden aboard the ship, in compartments welded into the decking plate of the 210-foot steel vessel.
The first stash of cocaine on the Lisanne was found late Tuesday night, with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard. They drilled and found additional kilo packages hidden in a second compartment as the ship sat in dock at 3300 N. North River Dr. A kilo generally has a street value of between $20,000 and $30,000 in Miami.
“This is huge, very significant and the biggest we have had in a long time,” said Bill Olejasz, assistant port director. “Last year was about 1,000 pounds, but we’d have to go back 12 to 15 years for the last time we had something this big on the river.”
So far there were no reports of any arrests from the incident. The crew of seven to nine people are in the custody of Customs and will likely be deported, Olejasz said.
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Source: Miami Herald
