U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy working in the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Central and South America recently seized over 11,300 pounds of cocaine and more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana, contraband valued at over $223 million.
The drugs were unloaded this past week at Coast Guard facilities in San Diego.
“At-sea interdictions of pure cocaine are the most effective way to limit cartel’s destabilizing effects throughout the Western Hemisphere,” said Vice Admiral Michael McAllister, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander.
Coast Guard officials said the fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring, and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations.
