Coast Guard seizes 223 lbs of drugs on boat headed to Long Beach

SAN PEDRO, Calif. - Crews with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently recovered 223 lbs. of cocaine off a disabled boat off the Colombia coast. 

According to officials, two people on a disable panga-stye vessel flagged down a good Samaritan on the way to Long Beach. That crew then contacted the Coast Guard to help them rescue the two people and recover their boat. 

After the two people and their boat rescued, the crew notified the Coast Guard that drugs were possibly on board the boat. 

A search revealed the narcotics in a false bottom of the boat, officials said. The two people were detained and the drugs and boat seized.

"This operation exemplifies the outstanding interagency collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard and CBP," said Lt. Cdr. Keith Robinson, chief of law enforcement at Sector Los Angeles - Long Beach.