Coast
Guard marks the end of a record year in counterdrug operations
VIDEO: Coast
Guard Cutter Waesche crewmembers offload seized cocaine from the cutter in San
Diego on October 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of cocaine were interdicted in
international waters off the coast of Central and South America. (U.S. Coast
Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Joel Guzman)
The U.S. Coast Guard marked
the end of a record year in counterdrug operations as the crew of Cutter
Waesche from Alameda, California, offloaded more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine
in San Diego Thursday, October 27.
The Coast Guard and its interagency partners removed more than 416,600 pounds
of cocaine worth over $5.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2016, which ran from Oct. 1,
2015, to Sept. 30, 2016. The service’s previous record was 367,700 pounds of
cocaine removed in Fiscal Year 2008.
“This impressive record not only reflects the extraordinary accomplishments of
the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard but the continued threat our nation
faces from transnational criminal organizations determined to move drugs into
our country by any means necessary,” said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C.
Johnson.
Coast Guardsmen also apprehended 585 suspected drug smugglers in Fiscal Year
2016, which is also a new record for the service, up from 503 suspected drug
smugglers in Fiscal Year 2015. Of those apprehended, 465 were transferred to
the U.S. for prosecution, another service record.
“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. “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 the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche offloaded more than 39,000 pounds of
cocaine worth over $531 million, which came from some of the Coast Guard’s
final interdictions in Fiscal Year 2016. In all, the crew turned over narcotics
from 25 separate busts that occurred in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of
Central and South America. For video and information on Waesche interdictions,
please click here.
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The Coast Guard surged assets, including cutters and personnel, to known drug
transit zones in 2014 as part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy. This surge is
aimed, in part, at combating the threat of transnational organized crime
networks responsible for increased violence and instability in the Western
Hemisphere. The gangs, cartels and other illegal organizations throughout the
Western Hemisphere that make up these transnational organized crime networks
have reach and influence throughout South, Central and North America.
The Coast Guard conducts counternarcotics operations as part of a U.S.
government effort to dismantle transnational organized crime networks.
These efforts include Joint interagency Task Force South, which is a national
task force that executes detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking across
all domains; Eleventh and Seventh Coast Guard Districts in Alameda and Miami,
respectively, which coordinate the interdiction and seizure of the narcotics
and suspects; and numerous U.S. Attorneys’ Offices that coordinate the
investigation and prosecution of drug smuggling cases.
For a Coast Guard Fact Sheet on Fiscal Year 2016 cocaine removals, please click here.
|
Coast
Guard Cutter Waesche crewmembers offload seized cocaine from the cutter in
San Diego on October 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of cocaine were interdicted in
international waters off the coast of Central and South America. (U.S. Coast
Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sondra-Kay Kneen.) |
|
Coast
Guard Cutter Waesche crewmembers offload seized cocaine from the cutter in
San Diego on October 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of narcotics were interdicted
in international waters off the coast of Central and South America. (U.S.
Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrea Anderson.) |
|
Coast
Guard Cutter Waesche crewmembers offload seized cocaine from the cutter in
San Diego on October 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of narcotics were interdicted
in international waters off the coast of Central and South America. (U.S.
Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrea Anderson.) |
|
Coast
Guard Cutter Waesche crewmembers offload seized cocaine from the cutter in
San Diego on October 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of cocaine were interdicted in
international waters off the coast of Central and South America. (U.S. Coast
Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrea Anderson.) |
Vice Adm. Fred
Midgette, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area and Capt. James Passarelli,
commanding officer, Coast Guard Cutter Waesche speak during a press briefing before
Waesche crewmembers offload seized cocaine from the cutter in San Diego on
October 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of cocaine were interdicted in international
waters off the coast of Central and South America. (U.S. Coast Guard video by
Petty Officer 1st Class Rob Simpson)