The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded a whopping 28,000 pounds of cocaine at Port Everglades on Thursday.
According to an official press release from the U.S. Coast Guard, the “seized contraband was the result of four interdictions in the Eastern Pacific by the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Thetis and an embarked MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based out of Jacksonville, Florida.”
The four incidents happened May 3, May 5, May 6, and May 10. On May 3, for example, a maritime patrol aircraft “located two suspicious vessels approximately 170 miles west of Mexico,” ultimately seizing 4,630 pounds of cocaine.
“The Coast Guard transferred 4,608 pounds of cocaine from this case to Ecuadorian government officials to aid them in their prosecution efforts,” the release reads, noting that crew seized 9,993 pounds of cocaine in a bale field roughly 475 miles southwest of Colima, Mexico, just two days later.
The two other incidents were as follows:
On May 6, a crew on an embarked helicopter aboard the Thetis detected two suspicious vessels throwing bales overboard approximately 575 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico. Due to an incoming storm, the air crew lost sight of the vessels but led the Thetis crew to three bale fields where 14,559 pounds of cocaine bales were recovered.
On May 10, the Thetis crew spotted a bale field approximately 660 miles south of Acapulco, Mexico. Thetis’ crew recovered 3,984 pounds of cocaine from the bale field.
In all, the seized cocaine was worth $211.3 million.
Cmdr. Ryan Kelley, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Thetis, said in a statement that he “could not be more proud of this crew and what they accomplished this patrol.
“The Coast Guard is in the business of saving lives, and every kilogram of these drugs kept off our streets represents lives saved,” he said.
“The more than 33,000 pounds of drugs seized by Thetis this patrol also represents the determination of a crew who continues to find a way to improvise, adapt, and overcome to keep an aging cutter in the fight and accomplish this mission,” he added.
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