Three charged after border agent killed

Federal authorities filed drug trafficking charges Friday against three men allegedly involved in a deadly shootout with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents off the coast of Puerto Rico.

One agent was killed and two more were injured after men traveling on a boat headed toward Cabo Rojo on a key smuggling route exchanged fire with a routine patrol, according to an FBI statement Friday.

One of the men on the boat was shot, while officers arrested three more, two of whom were detained on a nearby boat, the release said.

The three men, identified as Edgardo Santos, Osvaldo Hernandez Camacho and Nelson Rivera Suarez, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine while on board a covered vessel.

The two agents injured are being treated at a nearby hospital. As of Thursday, Customs reported that they were in stable condition.

The FBI said it would continue to investigate the incident and the United States Attorney’s Office would prosecute the case.