U.S. Agents seize US$8M, arrest four men in speedboat

An Associated Press report quotes American authorities as saying that a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter fired on a high-speed boat and disabled the vessel as four men tossed bales of money into the Caribbean Sea.

Agents from the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force, which investigates the trafficking of South American drugs, arrested the four Colombians and delivered them to authorities in Puerto Rico on Monday. They also recovered US$8 million that the men had tossed into the sea.

"Law enforcement will continue to hit them where it hurts the most, in the drug traffickers' pockets," Luis Fraticelli, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Puerto Rico, told the news agency.

The report said agents intercepted the go-fast boat with four outboard engines as it traveled north from Panama without a flag or navigation lights. The Coast Guard helicopter opened fire and disabled the boat after the vessel ignored orders to stop.

The FBI said that's when the crew members jettisoned more than a dozen bales of cash. The report said tests conducted by the Coast Guard on the 12-metre boat indicated the presence of cocaine, suggesting it had recently been used to store or transport drugs.

The man identified as the crew's leader, Robert Hotivo, 43, allegedly told authorities he was offered US$40,000 to transport the money and that he had made other similar trips.

The FBI did not disclose the identity of the employer or where the boat was heading. The four men are scheduled to appear in court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday.