United State Coast Guard (USCG) officials have offloaded about 11.2 tons of cocaine and 1.8kg of marijuana, worth an estimated $475 million at Miami Beach.
The drugs were interdicted in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
“I am proud of the crew’s continued devotion to duty that made this offload possible,” said Cdr. Jeremy M. Greenwood, commanding officer of USCGC Legare.
“Through the coordinated efforts of the Legare, the LEDETs, HNLMS Groningen, CGC James, and the USS Billings crews, we significantly contributed to the counter-drug mission and the dismantling of transnational criminal organisations. The drugs seized through this coordinated effort will result in significantly fewer drug-related overdoses.”
The USCG said the fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, and the transnational criminal organisations they are associated with, requires a unity of effort in all phases; from detection and monitoring to interdiction and apprehension, and on to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the country.
It said detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination.
“The Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida conducts detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Maritime interdiction of illicit smuggling activity in the Caribbean Sea is coordinated by the Seventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami. The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard also coordinates maritime interdiction of illicit smuggling activity with deployed Royal Netherlands Navy ships and their embarked Dutch Fleet Marine Corps squadrons and U.S. Coast Guard LEDETs in the Eastern Caribbean Sea near the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
“Maritime interdiction of illicit smuggling activity in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is coordinated by the Eleventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, California. The U.S. Navy and allied foreign ships conduct law enforcement missions under the authority of embarked Coast Guard LEDETs from Tactical Law Enforcement Teams based in Miami and San Diego,” the agency said.
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