High seas raids net 14 tons of cocaine

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday that it has seized more than 14 tons of cocaine in drug busts on the high seas over the past three months.

The seizures resulted in the arrests of 17 Colombians who were turned over to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency in Tampa for prosecution.

The cocaine taken from the Colombian fishing boats was transferred Monday to the DEA in Key West, Florida, the Coast Guard said.

The drugs were seized when a joint Coast Guard and U.S. Navy patrol boarded two fishing vessels and found 28,236 pounds of cocaine.

The first happened February 11 when 25,150 pounds of cocaine were taken from the 65-foot fishing vessel, the Paulo, about 300 miles south of the Galapagos Islands. Nine Colombian nationals were taken into custody.

"This is the second largest [Coast Guard] seizure of cocaine ever and the largest seizure ever made at sea," said Petty Officer Anastasia Burns.

The second seizure took place March 27 when a joint patrol operating from the same Navy vessel seized 3,086 pounds of cocaine after boarding the fishing vessel Gisel near Costa Rica, the Coast Guard said. Eight Colombian nationals were detained.