MANAGUA, Nicaragua: Drug traffickers fleeing Nicaraguan authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard dumped 3,300 pounds of cocaine into the ocean off Central America before escaping, police said Thursday.
Lawmen chased the traffickers along the coast from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday, when the four ditched their boat at a beach just south of Puerto Cabezas, said Puerto Cabezas Police Chief Aquilino Alaniz.
The fugitives threw 50 packages of cocaine into the sea and abandoned their 24-foot boat, Navy commander Eduardo Sanders told Radio Nicaragua.
The boat was equipped with four 200-horsepower engines, Alaniz said.
The U.S. Coast Guard took part in the chase on the high seas, where it patrols to help monitor for drug trafficking and illegal fishing.
