20,000 Pounds Of Cocaine, Marijuana Worth $211 Million Seized From International Waters Offloaded In San Diego
SAN DIEGO (CBSLA) — More than $211 million worth of seized cocaine and marijuana was offloaded by the Coast Guard and Navy in San Diego Monday.
Approximately 11,400 pounds of cocaine and 9,000 pounds of cocaine had been seized by crews on the USS Gabrielle Giffords and three other Coast Guard cutters in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean between October and December, according to the Coast Guard.
"When you are covering a drug-smuggling transit zone the size of the continental United States, every ship makes a huge difference," Lt. Jonathan Dietrich said in a statement.
The LEDET 407, whose crew is based in Miami, was the source of five cases involving 10,570 pounds of cocaine and 4,100 pounds of marijuana. The Spencer made the next biggest seizures at 420 pounds of cocaine and 1,450 pounds of marijuana, while The Seneca seized 350 pounds of cocaine in one case, and the Legare seized 53 pounds of cocaine and 3,400 pounds of marijuana in another.
The Coast Guard's narcotics enforcement crews are aimed at transnational criminal organizations that use international waters to get between supply networks in Central and South America.
