US Coast Guard offloads over $57m in drugs interdicted in Caribbean Sea

The crew of the US Coast Guard medium endurance cutter USCGC Escanaba offloaded approximately 7,250 pounds (3,290 kg) of cocaine and 2,082 pounds (944 kg) of marijuana, worth an estimated US$57 million, in Port Everglades in Florida on Monday, September 21.

The seized contraband was the result of two interdictions in the Caribbean Sea by the crews of Escanaba and the Sentinel-class fast response cutter USCGC Richard Dixon with an embarked coast guard law enforcement detachment.

Other assets and crews that were involved in the interdiction operations include Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team Pacific, LEDET 101; Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean; Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S)); and Coast Guard Southeast District watchstanders.

JIATF-S, in Key West, conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once an interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the US Coast Guard for the interdiction and apprehension phases.

Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the coast guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard Southeast District, headquartered in Miami. Interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are performed by members of the coast guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard Southwest District, headquartered in Alameda, California.