55 crocus sacs loaded down with suspected marijuana, seized during a joint law enforcement operation in Ragged Island on Friday, were transported to New Providence late Friday night. The drugs weigh 815 pounds and have an estimated street value of $815,000.
Operation Turks and Caicos Bahamas (OPBAT), the US Coast Guard, DEU, and the Marine Division teamed up for the mission which resulted in a large quantity of drugs being seized. The vessel and drugs arrived just before midnight at the Marine Division dock on Bay Street.
Officers formed a human chain to offload the drug haul last night.
Officers were conducting surveillance in the area of the Ragged Island chain when they observed a white go-fast vessel with three male occupants on board.
“As a result, the aircraft attempted to get near this vessel when they noticed the occupants abandoned the vessel in shallow waters off the Ragged Island chain,” according to Press Liaison Officer ASP Audley Peters.
Peters said the suspects escaped into a wooded area where the boat was left on shallow banks. The search for those suspects continues.