5 Guyanese held as 3,591 lb of marijuana seized off Cabo Rojo
The Coast Guard cutter Northland stopped the 68-foot vessel An-Nur about 200 nautical miles southwest of Cabo Rojo on 8 July 2014, seizing 3,591 pounds of marijuana and detaining its five Guyanese crew. The men were handed to federal authorities in Ponce and charged with conspiracy aboard a United States-jurisdiction vessel, facing 10 years to life.
🇵🇷 Caribbean Sea, 200 nautical miles southwest of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
The United States Coast Guard intercepted a vessel about 200 nautical miles
southwest of Cabo Rojo in the Caribbean Sea and arrested five suspected
traffickers.[1]The Coast Guard cutter Northland reported the suspicious
68-foot vessel An-Nur and found the marijuana on board.[2]The five men
arrested were Michael Dacosta, Shawn A. Ally, Nolan E. Connelly, Ron D. Griffith
and Owen K. Brakes.[1]All five are citizens of Guyana and were placed in the
Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo.[1]They were handed to federal
authorities in Ponce on 8 July and charged withdrug trafficking on 17 July.[1]Magistrate Sylvia Carreño Col authorized the complaint charging them with
conspiracy to possess a controlled substance on board a vessel subject to United
States jurisdiction.[1]Those convicted face sentences of 10 years to life in
prison.[1]
The boarding team found 3,591 pounds (about 1,630 kilograms) of marijuana hidden
on the cargo vessel.[3]Officials estimated the wholesale value at 3.5 million
dollars.[2]The Northland handed the drugs and the detained men to Customs and
Border Protection and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.[2]
Federal prosecutor Jennifer Hernández called it the largest drug load seized by
authorities in the previous 10 months.[1]Since October 2013 the Coast Guard
had seized 17,591 kilograms of cocaine and 4,341 pounds of marijuana in 25
interdictions under Operation Unified Resolve, worth more than 444 million
dollars.[2]The 270-foot cutter Northland, homeported in Virginia, had been
assigned to Caribbean waters a week earlier when it made what was then the
year’s largest marijuana seizure.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Fox Newsfoxnews.comUS authorities seize haul of marijuana on Guyana-flagged cargo ship in Caribbean Sea
Open questions the AI reported
The Telemundo page carries a 4 March 2015 publication date and April 2015 update, but describes 8 and 17 July enforcement corroborated as July 2014 by the July 2014 CBS Miami and Fox reports; 8 July 2014 is used as the incident date.
The exact interdiction day versus the Ponce handover is not fully separated: Telemundo says the men were handed to federal authorities in Ponce on 8 July, while the July 2014 account says the vessel was stopped the prior week.
Weight is given as more than 3,500 pounds in two accounts and precisely as 3,591 pounds (1,630 kilograms) in a third; the report uses the precise count and converts it to kilograms.
The fifth detainee is spelled Owen K. Brakes by Telemundo and Owen K. Drakes in the Fox/AP account, and the vessel is spelled An-Nur versus An Nurl.
No trial outcome, sentence or later custody status was reported in the opened sources.
Puerto Rico police arrested two men, aged 51 and 57, during a surveillance operation in the Antonio Roig housing estate in Humacao on Tuesday 10 November 2026. Officers seized 17 bags of marijuana, 30 bags of cocaine and 97 bags of crack, along with $67 in cash, and consulted a prosecutor about the case.
Puerto Rico police arrested at least 60 people on 4 August 2026 in Operación Espacio Seguro, a five-month investigation into drug sales near schools and parks across 25 municipalities. Officers seized 101 marijuana pieces and one pound of marijuana alongside cocaine, crack, fentanyl and heroin, while prosecutors filed 248 charges.
Puerto Rico police stopped a pickup truck on the PR-26 in Carolina on 1 March 2026 and found 31 pounds of marijuana, a pistol, 22 rounds and three suspected counterfeit $100 bills. Three men were arrested and the case was referred to a prosecutor.
A 17-day operation across the Caribbean and Latin America ended on 26 March 2000 with 362.5 metric tons of marijuana seized and 2,331 arrests, the DEA announced. Run from San Juan, it joined counter-drug agencies from 26 countries against trafficking organizations.
