The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Friday that the U.S. and its allies operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean have seized more than 119,000 pounds of cocaine worth over $1.8 billion wholesale in the last 10 months, more than they did in fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014 combined.
During this same time, 215 suspected smugglers have been apprehended.
According to the Coast Guard, 2015 is the most successful fiscal year for counter drug operations in the Eastern Pacific since 2009 when the Coast Guard seized 86,936 pounds of cocaine.
The news comes two days after the U.S. Coast Guard released new photos showing a major cocaine haul from a semi-submersible off the coast of Central America last month.
The Coast Guard says that crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton stopped the self-propelled 40-foot vessel July 18, 2015 and recovered more than 12,000 pound of cocaine worth an estimated $181 million wholesale.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
