Cocaine valued at more than $25 million was seized last month during a Joint Interagency Task Force South interception of a low-profile vessel moving in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
In all, nearly a ton of cocaine was pulled from the vessel after it was spotted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircraft. Once detected, the U.S. Coast Guard was dispatched. They caught the vessel, along with its payload and three smugglers. The vessel was then sunk.
“We remain committed to the team working against transnational criminal organizations and narcotics smugglers,” Allen Durham, National Air Security Operations Center Corpus Christi (NASOC-CC) Director, said. “This seizure is the latest example of the great work that our crews do to make life hard on those intent on bringing illicit drugs to the United States.”
Craft like the P-3 Long Range Tracker, which was used to spot the vessel in question, regularly patrol a 42 million square mile area covering multiple nations and aquatic territories. They work with the international Joint Interagency Task Force South to detect and monitor illicit trafficking. The appropriate law enforcement is then contacted to disrupt and dismantle threats.