Alameda-Based Coast Guard Cutter Offloads More Than 14,300 Pounds Of Cocaine
SAN DIEGO (CBS SF) -- The Alameda-based Coast Guard Cutter Waesche offloaded more than 14,300 pounds of cocaine Friday, the haul from spending months battling drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Rear Adm. Nathan Moore, deputy commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area, called the seizure part of the "cycle of justice."
"The offload that you see behind me, the bales of cocaine, represents a successful example of the cycle of justice," he said. "This cycle of justice disrupts a cycle of crime which, left unchecked, fuels violence and instability that erodes our hemisphere's social and economic fabric and directly contributes to historically high numbers of drug related deaths in North America."
The drugs were seized during six separate interdictions off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America by the Coast Guard cutters Active, Steadfast and Waesche.
- Active was responsible for two cases, seizing an estimated 1,297 kilograms of cocaine.
- Steadfast was responsible for two cases, seizing an estimated 2,350 kilograms of cocaine.
- Waesche was responsible for two cases, seizing an estimated 2,874 kilograms of cocaine.
The Coast Guard increased U.S. 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.
During at-sea interdictions in international waters, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied, military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida.
The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda. The interdictions, including the actual boarding, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.