The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detailed a recent counterdrug collaboration between Air and Marine Operations (AMO), federal and international law enforcement partners yielding a $30 million Pacific cocaine seizure.
Authorities indicated an AMO National Air Security Operations MQ-9 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) crewed by AMO and Coast Guard (USCG) personnel worked with Joint Interagency Task Force — South and international partners in seizing 2,646 pounds of cocaine and detaining three people in the eastern Pacific on March 17.
Law enforcement personnel detected a go-fast vessel that was suspected of involvement in the transportation of narcotics through the Eastern Pacific transit zone. The team notified partner nation law enforcement forces and guided them to the location of the suspect vessel.
The MQ-9 UAS is deployed to increase domain awareness in land and maritime environments. The UAS platforms are remotely piloted assets equipped with radar and camera sensors.
Additionally, the MQ-9 serves missions that include low-profile aerial surveillance, land border security, maritime surface detection and monitoring, and national disaster relief efforts.
AMO UAS crews reported 72,836 detections of cross-border and maritime traffic suspected of illegal activity during fiscal year 2021, while missions executed by AMO UAS personnel in fiscal year 2021 resulted in the seizure of 9,541 pounds of marijuana and 9,773 pounds of cocaine.