Two suspected drug traffickers were killed early Sunday in a shootout with federal agents on Puerto Rico’s northeast coast, authorities said.
The incident happened just after midnight when authorities spotted a suspicious boat at sea and gave chase, US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jeffrey Quinones told The Associated Press.
The chase ended when the suspected drug traffickers fired at federal agents, who returned fire, Quinones said. He said two of the six suspects on board the ship were killed and the remaining four were arrested. No federal agents were injured.
Quiñones said drugs were found in the boat and in the water, but no further details were immediately available.
The nationalities of the suspects have not been confirmed, he said.
The deadly chase comes two months after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent and a suspected drug trafficker died in a shootout off Puerto Rico’s southwest coast. Two other agents were injured in the incident and hospitalized.
The FBI is investigating the latest fatal shooting. A spokesman did not immediately return a message for comment.
Puerto Rico is a popular transit point for drugs coming out of South America. Agents seized $26 million worth of cocaine near the island of Veiques in October and $9 million worth of cargo aboard the boat during routine cargo inspections in the capital of San Juan in December.