A Customs and Border Protection air crew from Corpus Christi has been involved in the arrest of four people aboard a mini-sub that authorities say was carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine worth nearly $200 million and headed for the U.S.
The crew aboard a long-range surveillance aircraft detected the vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean while working with a federal and military task force.
With the plane providing visual contact, a Coast Guard vessel was summoned, made the arrests and seized the cargo March 2.
The drug vessel, described by officials Thursday as self-propelled and semi-submersible, later sank.
The CPB has a National Air Security Operations Center at Corpus Christi. Its crews patrol 42 million square miles that include the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
