MIAMI, Florida (CMC) – The United States Coast Guard says the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C Webber offloaded over three thousand pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated wholesale value of over US$47 million seized in the Caribbean Sea.
The US Coast Guard said the drugs were seized during the interdictions of three suspected smuggling vessels off the coasts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Aruba by the Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley, Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant and Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton.
The cutter Sexton was responsible for one case on October 10, seizing an estimated 2700 pounds of cocaine, while cutter Donald Horsley, was responsible for another case on October 4, seizing an estimated 816 pounds of cocaine.
The cutter Vigilant was responsible for yet another on September 30, seizing an estimated 50 pounds of marijuana.
The US Coast Guard said numerous US agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security “cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organised crime.
“The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations,” the Coast Guard said.
“The fight against transnational organized crime networks in the Caribbean Basin requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by US Attorneys in districts across the nation,” it added.
The Coast Guard said it has increased US and allied presence in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Basin, “which are known drug transit zones off of Central and South America, as part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy.”
