US Coast GuardUS Coast Guard personnel remove thousands of pounds of cocaine from a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel.SAN DIEGO (AP) – The U.S. Coast Guard has seized more cocaine off Latin America’s Pacific coast over 10 months than in the past three years combined.
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The announcement was made Monday at Naval Base San Diego as crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton unloaded more than 66,500 pounds of cocaine after a 3-month operation off the west coast of South and Central America.
A press conference is scheduled here in San Diego Monday morning, where U.S. officials are expected to detail how they were able to confiscate more than 119,000 pounds of cocaine.
“The Stratton’s successful, record-breaking mission reflects the hard work, excellence and dedication put forth by the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard every day”, the Secretary said in a statement. This has led to record high homicide rates in Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean; eight of the 10 countries with the highest homicide rates in the world are in this region.
The U.S. Coast Guard noticed something odd over waters off the coast of El Salvador: A submarine. The bundles covering the deck equated to about 33m lines of cocaine or 336m hits of crack, according to DEA estimates.
The Coast Guard said there have been 25 known interdictions of semi-submersible vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean since November 2006. “We must continue to make progress in our effort to combat transnational organized crime networks to ensure safety and security in our hemisphere”.
Crews from the Huntington Ingalls Industries-built National Security Cutter Stratton apprehended the semi-submersible and the four suspected smugglers who had 275 bales of cocaine on board. Its haul included drugs found during 39 seizures, including several instances involving drug-running, semi-submersibles.
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Stratton was involved in another semi-sub capture earlier this year, and officials said the cutter, with its additional daily deployments into the Eastern Pacific Ocean, has been a valuable asset. Allied and worldwide partner agencies play an important role in counter drug operations. Cocaine seizures by the U.S. Coast Guard off Latin America have jumped to their highest levels in five years.
