By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

POLICE have taken into custody three men and more than $800,000 worth of marijuana after an early morning operation in the Sea Breeze area.

According to police reports, a team of officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit and the Royal Bahamas

Defence Force observed the men offloading a large quantity of suspected drugs from a vessel onto a waiting truck around 4am.

The men, two aged 51, and the other 46, were arrested at the scene.

This latest incident comes as authorities continue to crack down on the smuggling of illicit drugs into and throughout the island chain.

Last Friday, investigators in Grand Bahama seized over $1 million worth of heroin and cocaine.

Officers of the Drug Enforcement Unit, along with Bahamas Customs, United States officials and the Container Port Security went to the Container Port in Grand Bahama and conducted a search of a 40-foot container.

Once inside, officers discovered two black Nike duffle bags that contained 53 taped packages of suspected cocaine and one taped package of suspected heroin.

The combined weight of the suspected drugs was 131 pounds. The total street value is $1,415,000.

In January, authorities in Grand Bahama discovered nearly $1 million in cocaine once again at the Freeport Container Port.

It was the first major drug seizure at Grand Bahama for 2014. According to police reports, Bahamian and US authorities made the discovery on Thursday, January 2, in the afternoon.

Police said that, shortly after 3pm, officers of the Drug Enforcement Unit went to the container port after receiving a tip.

The officers, along with Bahamas Customs and US officials, discovered two black Nike duffle bags containing 45 clear plastic Ziploc bags of suspected cocaine.

The drugs weighed 112 pounds with a street value of $900,000.