Tampabay: Sailors, cocaine plucked from sea

TAMPA -- Six Colombian sailors have been arrested and detained after authorities spotted them throwing bales of cocaine off of their speedboat, according to federal officials.

During a chase on Nov. 11, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard officials said, they saw the men throw the bales, set the boat on fire and jump overboard, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

The Coast Guard then fished the men and the bales out of the water.

The men -- Luis Angel Torres, Armando Mercader, Cliber Canpaz, Atilano Portocarrero, Luis Mosquera and Wenceslao Cetre -- appeared at a hearing in federal court in Tampa on Monday, and a judge ordered them held without bond.

They are charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and possession of more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. If convicted, they face a minimum of 10 years in prison.

This case is tied to an investigation that has seized about 95 tons of cocaine and led to about 85 arrests, mostly from boats captured off the coast of South America in the Eastern Pacific.

The seizures have been among the largest in the nation's history. Some of the boats have been towed to the Tampa area, where the trials have taken place.

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