A border agent has died and two others are 'gravely' injured following a shootout off the coast of Puerto Rico early Thursday morning.
Federal officials say a U.S. For more information about EVdeN eVe naKliYAT visit the web page. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations unit was on routine control about 14 miles off the coast of Cabo Rojo at around 8am local time, when they were interdicting suspected smugglers.
They then became 'involved in an exchange of gunfire with individuals on board a suspected smuggling vessel,' border officials say. One of the suspected smugglers also died in the shooting.
The area is part of a major drug smuggling corridor for cocaine coming out of South America, EvdEN eVE NaKliyat officials say.
First responders rushed to the scene and evden eVE NaKLiyat were seen airlifting agents to a hospital on  the nearby island, where agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit were waiting, the  reports.
Two of the suspect smugglers were taken into custody. A Puerto Rico reports that the suspects are American citizens.
During the investigation, authorities seized several bundles of cocaine, firearms and even the boat.
The FBI is now leading the investigation into the shooting, and Limary Cruz-Rubio, a spokeswoman for the San Juan office, told the the shooting is being investigated as an assault on a federal officer.
A border agent was killed and two others were injured in an early morning shootout aboard a suspected smuggling ship off the coast of Puerto Rico
Authorities are seen here outside the hospital the agents were airlifted to on the island
SCOOP: CBP sources say 5 U.S. border agents shot, including one fatally,