On June 6 in port Everglades, Florida, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton offloaded about 26,000 pounds of seized cocaine and 1,500 pounds of seized marijuana. The cocaine is worth approximately $348 million, whereas the marijuana $1.6 million.
Specifically, the drugs were found in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America and include contraband seized and recovered in over a dozen interdictions.
The Hamilton’s crew conducted the operations of targeting transnational criminal organizations in conjunction with Joint Interagency Task Force-South, Department of Defense, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Justice, and a number of other Coast Guard aircraft, the Ecuadorian Coast Guard, and the Costa Rican Coast Guard.
The USCG and Royal Canadian Navy ships invovled were:
- The cutter Hamilton was responsible for four cases, seizing approximately 1,400 pounds of marijuana and some 9,000 pounds of cocaine.
- The Coast Guard Cutter Resolute (WMEC-620) was responsible for four interdictions seizing approximately 7,550 pounds of cocaine.
- Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Whitehorse with a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment aboard interdicted two suspected smuggling boats seizing more than 2,000 pounds of cocaine.
- HMCS Yellowknife, also with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment aboard, was responsible for one interdiction seizing more than 50 pounds of marijuana.
- The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk (WMEC-913) was responsible for five cases, seizing nearly 8,600 pounds of cocaine.
