TRENDING
Coast Guard Seizes Nearly 11,000 Pounds Of Cocaine Jettisoned By Suspected Smugglers
U.S. Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it seized nearly 11,000 pounds of cocaine jettisoned by suspected smugglers in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alert on Monday returned to its homeport in Astoria, Ore., after a 59-day counter-narcotics patrol during which it intercepted the suspected smugglers.
The Alert’s helicopter crew from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based out of Jacksonville, Fla., spotted a suspected go-fast vessel and alerted the cutter, which launched two small-boat pursuit teams. The suspect vessel refused to stop when ordered, and the helicopter crew disabled its engines.
As one of the boat crews gained control of the suspect vessel, the second boat crew recovered dozens of bales of cocaine that had been jettisoned by the suspected smugglers.
The crew worked through the night to haul in approximately 10,900 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of more than $143 million.
The Coast Guard said the seizure is one of the largest made in the Eastern Pacific.
“The crew worked in the margins, and we won big in the margins,” Cmdr. Lee Crusius, commanding officer Coast Guard Cutter Alert, said in a statement. “The return on investment from the Coast Guard to the American people continues to be demonstrated by our ability to project capabilities and rule of law within the maritime domain. Day in and day out, the women and men of our service are doing important business, protecting vital international interests from those who wish to subvert order.”
The Alert, which was commissioned in 1969, will move its homeport in June to Cape Canaveral, Fla.
TMX contributed to this article.
