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The Maine-based Coast Guard cutter Tahoma arrived in Miami today with 10,000 pounds of confiscated cocaine.

The Maine-based Coast Guard cutter Tahoma arrived in Miami today with 10,000 pounds of confiscated cocaine.The cutter has been working with U.S. and British navy patrols in the Caribbean, operations which in late June led to the seizure of 13,000 pounds of cocaine worth about $227 million on the street.On June 26, the Tahoma boarded a 120-foot Honduran ship Miss Dayanna 76 miles south of Jamaica and found the 10,000-pound cocaine stash hidden on board. The 270-foot Tahoma's home port is Kittery.The Coast Guard said its cutter named Tahoma intercepted a boat bound for Honduras in June in the Windward Passage, the section of the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Hispaniola. The Honduran ship was on its way from Venezuela to Honduras when Coast Guard officials deemed it suspicious and boarded the vessel.Officials said they found almost 200 bales of cocaine carefully packed inside a hidden compartment in a fuel tank onboard the ship. Twenty-five bricks of cocaine were packed into each bale."Finding 4 1/2 tons or 10,000 pounds is rather significant," said Lt. John Christensen of the U.S. Coast Guard. "It's one of the larger busts down in the Caribbean in recent times."Authorities said the cocaine is worth about $160 million on the streets.Officials said the find was a major deal for the Coast Guard crew, which spends weeks at a time patrolling the eastern seaboard.
"That's a significant period of time away from your family, and to have actual, tangible results in the end, it provides a reason for being out here," Christensen said.The seven people who were onboard the Honduran ship are now in the custody of the Drug Enforcement Agency. The ship was turned over to the Honduran government.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is expected to prosecute the case.
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