US coastguards seized more than 12 tonnes of cocaine in what officials are calling the largest seizure of the drug in maritime history.
The cocaine was found on a fishing boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean which has now been towed to San Diego in California.
The drugs were found on the Svesda Maru, a Belize-flagged vessel which had a crew of 10 on board, all from Russia and Ukraine.
The crew members are expected to be appear in the US District Court in San Diego on smuggling charges.
The vessel was first spotted about 1,500 miles south of San Diego by a US Navy ship. Sailors became suspicious because the craft was outside normal fishing grounds.
The ship is believed to have been heading towards Central America or Mexico.
The previous record for a cocaine seizure at sea was 10.8 tonnes from a ship in 1995.
PA