Two suspected drug traffickers were killed during a shootout with US Customs and Border Protection agents off the coast of Puerto Rico, authorities say.
Jeffrey Quiñones, a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection, told the Associated Press that the incident occurred early Sunday morning when federal agents spotted a suspicious boat at sea and a chase ensued.
The chase ended when the suspected drug traffickers fired at the federal agents, who returned fire, Quiñones said.
Two of the six suspects on board were killed and the remaining four were arrested, it added. No federal agents were injured.
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Federal agents await news of their injured colleagues outside the Rio Piedras Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 17, 2022, following a shootout off the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico that left one agent and a suspected drug trafficker dead.
(Courtesy of Carlos Giusti/GFR Media via AP)
Quiñones said drugs were found on board the boat and in the water, while the nationalities of the suspects had not been confirmed.
Quiñones did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday from Fox News Digital for more information.
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The FBI, which is reportedly investigating the shooting, declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital.
US Customs and Border Protection agents detected a suspicious boat at sea, prompting a manhunt and shooting, authorities say.
(Stephanie Bennett/Fox News)
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The deadly manhunt came two months after a US Customs and Border Protection agent and a suspected drug trafficker were killed in a shootout off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico. Two other officers were injured and hospitalized in that incident.
Puerto Rico is a popular transit point for drugs leaving South America, according to The Associated Press. Agents seized $26 million worth of cocaine in October near the island of Vieques and $9 million worth of shipments aboard a ship in December during a routine cargo inspection in the capital of San Juan.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
