Drug busts off San Diego coast net meth, marijuana

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Customs and Border Protection agents, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, intercepted two smuggling boats, arrested six people and seized roughly 528 pounds of methamphetamine and 941 pounds of marijuana off the coast of San Diego over the weekend, authorities reported Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The first apprehension happened around 1:10 a.m. Saturday, when agents detected a panga-style boat traveling northbound off the San Diego coast, according to CBP officials. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Forrest Rednour helped CBP agents chase down the boat, which was eventually halted around 12 nautical miles west of Oceanside when agents fired shots into the suspects' engine.

Agents arrested four people from the roughly 28-foot boat and seized 528 pounds of methamphetamine.

The second seizure happened shortly before 3:30 p.m. Saturday, when the crew on U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Haddock responded to a report of a suspicious vessel and boarded a fishing boat that was docked at the San Diego Bay channel.

CBP agents also responded to the vessel and found two people who did not have proper documentation to be in the United States. The agents took the two into custody and towed the boat to U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego, where a canine team allegedly found 941 pounds of marijuana wrapped in cellophane packages in the boat's center console.