CHASE LEAVES BALES OF POT LITTERING WATERS OFF MIAMI BEACH

A high-speed water chase that began in Bimini late Sunday night and left
nearly a million dollars of marijuana floating in its wake culminated when
a 28-foot go-fast boat ran aground in Miami Beach and its three occupants
sprinted away.

Customs agents and local police caught two of the men. Wayne Gart Townsend,
33, of Jamaica, and Steven Emmanuel Forbes, 24, face federal criminal
charges for smuggling and possession of drugs, according to the Customs
Service.

A third suspect is still at large, said Special Agent Zachary Mann, Customs
spokesman.

The chase began when a Customs jet on a routine patrol spotted a suspicious
boat coming from Bimini shortly before midnight. It was speeding toward
South Florida with its lights off, Mann said.

As it approached Miami Beach, marine enforcement officers with the Customs
Service tried to intercept it. The go-fast boat, equipped with twin Yamaha
engines, speeded away, Mann said.

"During the 40-minute chase, our officers saw them toss packages
overboard," Mann said.

The occupants of the go-fast boat beached it at 42nd Street and Collins
Avenue. They sprinted away, but Customs agents jumped out and caught
Townsend at the scene and, along with local police, nabbed Forbes six
blocks away.

After the arrests, Customs agents went back and found more than two dozen
37-pound bales of marijuana floating in the ocean off Miami Beach.
Estimated street value, according to Mann: $900,000.

Anyone with information about the third suspect is asked to call the
Customs hot line at 800-BE-ALERT.