San Diego

USCG Offloads 5K Pounds of Drugs Seized Near Central America

More than 5,000 pounds of cocaine seized by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) in the waters near Central America were offloaded in San Diego Tuesday. 

The 5,271 pounds of drugs estimated to be worth more than $78 million were seized during a two-day period in May by Coast Guard crews from Port Angeles, Washington. 

The cocaine will be turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for destruction, USCG said. 

180518-G-XO423-1014
U.S. Coast Guard - Defense Media
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Active, a 210-foot medium endurance Reliance-class cutter homeported in Port Angeles, Washington, interdicts more than 1 ton of cocaine from four suspected drug smugglers during a counter-narcotics patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Friday, May 18, 2018. Cutters like Active routinely conduct operations from South America to the Bering Sea to perform defense operations, alien migrant interdiction, domestic fisheries protection, search and rescue, counter-narcotics and other Coast Guard missions at great distances from shore keeping threats far from the U.S. mainland. (U.S. Coast Guard Photos by Petty Officer 1st Class Michael De Nyse)

The crew also detained six suspected drug smugglers who will have trials in the U.S. 

Active, the Coast Guard cutter used in the interceptions is a 53-year-old, 210-foot ship homeported in Port Angeles, Washington. The average lifespan of a cutter is 40 years, according to USCG.

"Just to keep a 53-year-old ship in prime condition is a feat in and of itself, and [the crew has] done that and much more," the ship's commanding officer, Cmdr. Chris German, said. 

180518-G-XO423-1030
U.S. Coast Guard - Defense Media
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Active, a 210-foot medium endurance Reliance-class cutter homeported in Port Angeles, Washington,Β interdicts more than 1 ton of cocaine from four suspected drug smugglers during a counter-narcotics patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Friday, May 18, 2018. Cutters like Active routinely conduct operations from South America to the Bering Sea to perform defense operations, alien migrant interdiction, domestic fisheries protection, search and rescue, counter-narcotics and other Coast Guard missions at great distances from shore keeping threats far from the U.S. mainland. (U.S. Coast Guard Photos by Petty Officer 1st Class Michael De Nyse)
Contact Us