SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Coast Guard Station San Juan and Sector San Juan Boarding Team members working with Homeland Security Task Force - San Juan Region partner agencies apprehended a stowaway smuggler and seized 10 bales of cocaine in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, Jan. 28, 2026.
The seized contraband weighed a combined total of 358kgs/789.25 pounds and is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $5 million. The apprehended suspect faces federal prosecution on drug trafficking charges.
Sector San Juan Command Center watchstanders received a VHF Channel 16 marine radio communication from inbound Tug vessel Signet Thunder at approximately 5:48 a.m., Jan. 28, 2026, while the vessel was towing the barge San Juan-JaxBridge to the Old Army Terminal port facility in San Juan Harbor. The tug Signet Thunder reported that a crewmember from an assist tugboat had boarded the barge and sighted a stowaway onboard. The tugboat further relayed they would hold position and wait for assistance. Watchstanders directed Station San Juan to launch and alerted Customs and Border Protection’s Caribbean Air and Marine Branch and Office of Field Operations, and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine units which also responded.
Watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to advise vessel traffic to be on the lookout for distress. Shortly thereafter, the Station San Juan boat crew sighted and recovered one person and 10 bales of suspected contraband from the water. Once pier side, Sector Boarding Team and Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations officers completed a boarding of the Signet Thunder and the barge and found no other stowaways or contraband onboard. The suspect and seized contraband were transferred to Homeland Security Task Force-San Juan law enforcement partners at Coast Guard Base San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“This case highlights a great response and interoperability between Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and Puerto Rico Police responding units and the strong collaboration within Homeland Security Task Force – San Juan partner agencies to secure the nation’s Eastern Caribbean maritime borders from illicit drug trafficking,” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano. Sector San Juan chief of response. “We commend the actions of the tugboat Signet Thunder which reflect positively on the maritime community and the important role they play in safeguarding our nation’s navigable waterways. We are proud to stand the watch alongside our Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and our local law enforcement partners as we continue to combat illicit trafficking throughout the waters of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
The Coast Guard is part of a whole-of-government approach to protect our maritime approaches in the Eastern Caribbean and secure our nation’s borders by interdicting drug smuggling activities at sea and dismantling Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO), including narco-trafficking and human smuggling operations.
This counterdrug interdiction is part of the Homeland Security Task Force HSTF initiative established by Executive Order 14519. Protecting American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole of government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration the HSTF directs the full might of the United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Juan Region comprises agents and officers from Coast Guard Sector San Juan, the Coast Guard Investigative Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration Caribbean Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation San Juan Field Office; United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, Air and Marine Operations Caribbean Branch, and U.S. Border Patrol Ramey Sector; the United States Marshals Service Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division – San Juan Field Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Miami Field Division; the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area - Puerto Rico / Virgin Islands; the Transportation Security Administration - Federal Air Marshal; the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security – RAC San Juan, the United States Secret Service and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.
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