MIAMI -- A Portsmouth-based Coast Guard crew made an $80 million drug bust on the high seas.
The crew of the Cutter Forward was on patrol when they spotted a "suspicious" Honduran-flagged vessel about 27 miles off Honduras.
The crew boarded the vessel and found 88 bales of cocaine on August 3. They removed the 5,700 pounds of illegal drugs and detained the five people aboard.
The suspects and seized contraband were transferred to the New Hampshire-based based Cutter Tahoma, which docked in Miami. There, the Tahoma crew offloaded the bales and handed over the suspects to Customs and Borders Protection.
The vessel was later sunk as a hazard to navigation.
