MIAMI — Federal agents stopped three boats that were en route to South Florida from the Bahamas and were smuggling large loads of cocaine and dozens of Chinese migrants last week, according to court documents.

U.S. Customs Air and Marine Operations agents stopped the boats last Saturday evening as they neared Fort Pierce Inlet, according to a criminal complaint filed this week by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. The three vessels were carrying a combined total of 31 Chinese migrants, including a child, and 168 kilograms, or 370 pounds, of cocaine, the complaint states.

The maritime stop was the culmination of an investigation started last year into what agents say is a “transnational criminal organization” based in Davie and run by a 44-year-old man named Fiero Cooper.

Davie Poli

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