2 GO-FAST BOATS, 8 SUSPECTS, DRUGS SEIZED AFTER WILD CHASE OFF CUBA

MIAMI -- Federal authorities on Friday said they seized two go-fast
boats and arrested eight smuggling suspects caught transporting 5,600
pounds of marijuana and 100 pounds of hashish between Great Inagua
Island in the Bahamas and Cuba.

The Coast Guard said its ships and crews worked with aircraft and
agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop
the smuggling operation.

Here's what the Coast Guard said happened early Thursday
morning:

A northbound go-fast boat was spotted on radar off the eastern tip of
Cuba around 5 a.m. and a second southeast of Cuba around 8:30 a.m.

The Coast Guard cutters Northlandand Forward were sent to intercept
the two vessels.

An ICE aircraft located the first go-fast at 11:49 a.m. heading north
at 40 mph in international waters. Packages were plainly visible on
the deck of the vessel.

A Sting Ray helicopter was launched from Jacksonville to join the
operation. It intercepted the first smuggling vessel and directed it
to stop. The vessel ignored the orders. Warning shots were fired in
front of the boat, but it continued to flee. A sharpshooter on the
helicopter then shot out the boat's propulsion system, bringing it to
a stop at 12:49 p.m.

After a Coast Guard boarding team from the Northland arrived, the
helicopter went after the second boat.

That boat also refused orders to stop and began tossing its contraband
overboard. After firing warning shots in front of the fleeing vessel,
the sharpshooter again used disabling fire to stop the go-fast, this
time at 1:23 p.m. The boat was then boarded by men from the Forward.

Three suspected smugglers were detained on the first go-fast -- one a
wounded Jamaican and two uninjured Bahamians. The wound was minor and
the Jamiacan was taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, then to Jackson
Memorial Hospital in Miami, arriving there at 10:45 p.m. Thursday. The
unidentified suspect has since been treated and turned over to federal
authorities.

Five other smuggling suspects on the second boat -- four Jamaicans and
one Bahamian -- were taken into custody. They and the two men from the
first go-fast boat are now in Coast Guard custody.

About 2,700 pounds of marijuana and 100 pounds of hash were seized
from the first boat and 2,900 pounds of marijuana from the second boat.