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A U.S. Coast Guard unit seized astir 10,000 pounds of cocaine from a sportfishing vessel successful the Atlantic Ocean, the bureau said on Monday. The haul was worthy an estimated $74 million.
The cause seizure took spot successful mid April, aft the unit of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Calhoun identified what the bureau described arsenic a suspicious sportfishing vas immoderate 1,200 miles westbound of Las Palmas successful the Canary Islands. Sailing done planetary waters, the boat's behaviour raised alarms astir narcotic trafficking, according to the Coast Guard, which sent a tiny cutter to intercept it and yet recovered the contraband connected board.
Five suspected smugglers were apprehended and are successful U.S. custody, the Coast Guard said.
"This interdiction demonstrates the Coast Guard's unwavering committedness to combating transnational transgression organizations," said Vice Adm. Nathan Moore, commandant of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area, successful a statement. "Our dedicated crews, successful adjacent coordination with interagency and planetary partners, proceed to disrupt the travel of illicit narcotics, which serves arsenic a captious strategical enactment that disrupts the fiscal networks of TCOs, undermining their quality to money further illicit activities that endanger our communities."
A tiny vessel from the Coast Guard cutter Calhoun approaches a sportfishing vas suspected of cause smuggling successful the Atlantic Ocean connected April 12, 2025.
U.S. Coast Guard photo
Coast Guard crews person intercepted aggregate monolithic cause hauls implicit the past fewer months, successful respective antithetic regions.
Last week, the Coast Guard cutter Kimball offloaded astir 18,898 pounds of cocaine — with an estimated thoroughfare worth of much than $214 cardinal — successful San Diego, aft intercepting six trafficking vessels disconnected the coasts of Mexico and Central America and South America betwixt February and April, federal officials said. Two weeks earlier, CBS Miami reported that different brace of Coast Guard cutters, James and Mohawk, offloaded much than 48,000 pounds of seized amerciable drugs valued astatine much than $509 cardinal astatine Port Everglades successful Fort Lauderdale.
That offload successful Florida came from 13 abstracted incidents wherever Coast Guard ships intercepted cause trafficking operations successful the eastbound Pacific Ocean. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said astatine the clip that the hauls included astir 45,000 pounds of "pure cocaine" and different 3,800 pounds of marijuana.
Earlier this year, the Coast Guard cutter Waesche offloaded much than 37,000 pounds of cocaine seized from smuggling boats disconnected the coasts of Mexico, Central America and South America betwixt December and February. The cutter vessel intercepted 11 vessels successful that clip period, the Coast Guard said, and the haul altogether was valued astatine much than $275 million.
Emily Mae Czachor is simply a quality exertion astatine CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, utmost upwind and issues involving societal and transgression justice. Emily Mae antecedently wrote for outlets similar the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
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