The US Coast Guard unloaded today in the port of Fort Lauderdale (South Florida) 10 tons of cocaine, valued at 300 million dollars, seized in international waters of the Pacific off the coasts of Central and South America.
Several Coast Guard patrols intercepted the drug in 14 operations in this area of the eastern Pacific, throughout Mexico and Central America, US authorities said in a statement.
One of the vessels, Coast Guard Spencer, intercepted approximately 3,000 kilos of cocaine, while Alert seized, in six operations, 3,305 kilos of cocaine and 23 kilos of heroin.
After the Alert and Spencer, the patrol vessels that seized the most drugs were the Vigorous and the Thetis, who seized 1,150 and 1,060 kilograms of cocaine in a single operation, respectively.
The operation, according to the commander of the patrol ship Spencer, John Mctamneym, is “the result of the efforts of multiple ships, planes and support of the Coast Guard, to stop these criminal organizations that benefit from transnational crime and smuggling” .
US agencies, including the Departments of Defense and Justice and National Security, were involved in operations led by the Coast Guard, which has increased its presence in eastern waters of the Pacific and the Caribbean because they are transit areas of the drug from Central America and South America.
