Police arrested a Jamaican and six Bahamian men in connection with the seizure of more than $2 million worth of marijuana off Eleuthera yesterday morning.

Officers, working on intelligence, found 45 bales of marijuana near the shoreline in Gregory Town, around 3:30 a.m., police said.

Three Bahamian men were arrested on the island. Another four men were arrested following a high-speed boat chase, which ensued off the coast of Eleuthera and ended in waters near New Providence, according to police.

Head of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) Superintendent Samuel Butler said the chase ended when the suspects' 32-foot Midnight Express vessel ran out of gas.

Police said they found dozens of bales of marijuana aboard the speedboat. The drugs weighed more than 2,000 pounds. Butler said based on intelligence, the drugs originated from Jamaica and were ultimately headed to the United States.

He said the suspects had not yet been interviewed and he could not say if they had a criminal past or are believed to be a part of a wider drug ring.

Butler said some Bahamians network with drug trafficking rings in Jamaica, leading to quicker turn-around times for drug shipments to The Bahamas.

"We continue to have the Haitian freighters based on our statistics this year, coming out of Haiti and landing in Inagua," he added. "We had a number of seizures at the Inagua port this year.

"We have also continued to see a great measure of success in Inagua and at the Freeport, Grand Bahama container port."

Butler said DEU officers will work diligently to seize more drugs and arrest drug traffickers. "As we continue our pursuit in the effort of drug interdiction to maintain clean streets, we think of our young citizens in this country, who may engage themselves in the use of marijuana," he said.

"That continues to push us ahead to these types of interdictions, and we feel good about our efforts so far this year. We have been very successful."

The arrests came on the heels of several major drug seizures. Less than a month ago, police arrested four Bahamian men in Exuma in connection with the seizure of $2.3 million worth of marijuana. Weeks before, officers found 76 large packages of marijuana on Rick Cay.

Two men were arrested at the scene. The drugs weighed 1,698 pounds, police reported. On September 16, police found over 20,000 marijuana plants in a large field off Carmichael Road in New Providence. The plants were valued at $500,000 as most of them were not fully formed, according to police.

The suspects arrested in yesterday morning's seizure are expected to be charge today.

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