Thread: US Coast Guard cutter to offload over 2 tons of cocaine in San Diego

US Coast Guard cutter to offload over 2 tons of cocaine in San Diego


U.S. Coast Guard's Fiscal Year 2016 was the most successful ever when it comes to drug interdiction. Photo: US Coast Guard

The crew of a U.S. Coast Guard ship that seized 5,600 pounds (2,540 kilos) of cocaine and arrested five smugglers in September this year are set to return home to San Diego where they will offload the contraband on October 27.



With the assistance of a U.S. Navy aircraft, the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Waesche from California, intercepted a drug smuggling self-propelled semisubmersible in the Pacific Ocean off Central America on September 6. The semi-sub was laden with more than $73 million worth of cocaine.

Coast Guardsmen from Waesche launched two pursuit vessels with boarding teams and an armed helicopter crew to interdict the SPSS. Five suspects were removed from the SPSS and were apprehended by Coast Guardsmen.

The suspected smugglers apparently attempted to scuttle the SPSS as water filled the smuggling vessel to just below the helm. Two Waesche crewmembers boarded the SPSS and began dewatering the vessel, which reduced the water level enough to allow boarding officers to safely remove over 5,600 pounds of cocaine from the SPSS.

The video below shows the Waesche crew during the dewatering efforts.



This seizure was part of more than 416,600 pounds of cocaine worth over $5.6 billion that has been intercepted by the Coast Guard in Fiscal Year 2016, which ran from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016.

“With every interdiction, we learn more about transnational organized crime networks that generate profit and proliferate power from a laundry list of illicit activities,” said Vice Adm. Fred Midgette, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area. “Coast Guard men and women not only keep drugs off U.S. streets, but they combat the influence of these criminal networks that spread violence and instability throughout the Western Hemisphere.”


http://navaltoday.com/2016/10/27/us-...-in-san-diego/

Coast Guard busts their 43rd drug sub, latest with almost 3 tons of cocaine

10/27/16



The Alameda, California based U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche offloaded 39,000 pounds of cocaine Thursday at Naval Base San Diego– including a large bust from a narco sub.

The self-propelled semi-submersible, or SPSS, was stopped in the Pacific Ocean off Central America on September 6.

Upon sighting the vessel, the cutter launched two fast pursuit boats with boarding teams and an armed helicopter crew to interdict the SPSS. Five suspects, apprehended by the Coasties (where are you going to go in open ocean?) attempted to scuttle the dope boat as water filled the smuggler to just below the helm.

Waesche crew members boarded the sinking vessel and were able to dewater it using portable pumps, allowing boarding officers to safely remove over 5,600 pounds of cocaine from the SPSS. It is the sixth such submersible captured this year by the service and the 43rd total.

According to a fact sheet from the service, the Coast Guardsmen apprehended a total 585 suspected drug smugglers in Fiscal Year 2016– a new record for the service, up from 503 suspected drug smugglers last year.

“These prosecutions erode and undermine the supply channels critical to the operations of drug kingpins who prey on our citizens with highly addictive drugs and spread violence throughout our hemisphere,” said Vice Adm. Fred Midgette, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, in a statement. “From 2002 to 2011, information obtained from suspects apprehended by the Coast Guard contributed to the arrest and extradition of more than 75 percent of drug kingpins.”

The crew of Waesche offloaded more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine, worth over $531 million, interdicted on her latest patrol, in San Diego Thursday morning.









http://www.guns.com/2016/10/27/coast...cocaine-video/

2016 record-breaking year for cocaine seizures, US Coast Guard says - world



euronews (in English)

10/27/16

CA. Coast Guard brings home record cocaine haul