US Coast Guard Seizes 20,000 Pounds of Cocaine in Eastern Pacific
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Munro seized over 20,000 pounds of cocaine from a single ship this week, the largest at-sea interdiction in nearly two decades.
The Munro made the seizure on Tuesday during counter-narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific, south of Mexico, as part of Operation Pacific Viper.
Video footage shows Coast Guard crew pursuing a “go-fast” vessel and disabling it with a helicopter before boarding and seizing the drugs. It is unclear what happened to those on board the vessel.
“Our maritime fighting force is leading America’s drug interdiction operations, protecting the Homeland, and keeping deadly drugs out of American communities,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
The operation comes days after the U.S. Coast Guard confiscated approximately 3,715 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $28 million, from a vessel two miles east of Government Cut, a man-made shipping channel near Miami Beach and Fisher Island.
The U.S. government has recently intensified its fight against boats carrying drugs from Central and South America. Since September, U.S. forces have carried out 22 strikes, leaving nearly 90 people dead.
