Costa Rica, U.S. Coast Guard nab narco-boat off Caribbean coast

The Costa Rican Coast Guard on Sunday detained a speedboat and its crew after a chase off the Caribbean coast in which alleged drug traffickers tossed some 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of marijuana into the sea.

The bust was carried out with the help of a British frigate transporting a team of U.S Coast Guard officers on board.

Costa Rican officials were tipped off by the U.S. Coast Guard about “a suspicious vessel” entering Costa Rican waters 126 kilometers from the Caribbean port of Limón.

The three-engine speedboat was stopped some 15 miles from Limón, and police arrested all six crew members – three Nicaraguans, one Colombian, one Jamaican and one Costa Rican.

Packages containing 2,000 pounds of marijuana had Jamaica logos printed on them and were recovered by the officers.

Inside the speedboat officers also seized six barrels of fuel, bilge pumps, batteries and other objects.

Last July, Costa Rica seized 1,200 kilograms of marijuana from two drug boats that were abandoned on a Caribbean beach following a chase.