A lot of cocaine - level 3

05-02-2014 07:00

The US Coast Guard has seized 1,133 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated 37 million dollars off the coast of the Dominican Republic.

The seized drugs were then unloaded onto the Port of Miami on Tuesday. The Coast Guard said a military aircraft detected a boat with four people carrying suspicious packages moving at a high speed. Warning shots were then fired in attempt to stop the vessel.

The smugglers were seen throwing several packages overboard during the pursuit.

Military helicopters used aerial force to disable the boat and the Coast Guard team boarded and then detained the four suspected smugglers, recovering 45 bales of cocaine from the water, according to the Coast Guard.

This was a joint operation between organisations working to combat drug trafficking into the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Difficult words: seize (take something officially), vessel (ship), pursuit (chase), detain (stop somebody from leaving), bale (large quantity of something that is tied together into a block), traffic (deal or trade something illegally).