The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announced it seized over nine tons of cocaine across six separate interdictions by one regional branch district in a two-week span in November.
In total, the estimated street value of the cocaine is some $239,000,000, and the collective loot came out to 18,219 pounds, according to a press release by the USCG. These half-dozen seizures reportedly took place between Nov. 7 and Nov. 24.
The largest seizure took place on Nov. 20, when the branch came across 5,500 pounds of the powdery white substance stockpiled in a narco-submarine, according to the USCG. (RELATED: Drug Use Worldwide Hits Staggering Highs As Cocaine, Meth Markets Boom)
WATCH:
#WATCH: San Diego coast guard intercept more than 18,000lbs of cocaine worth $239million in six separate drug busts in one month – with largest seizure from a narco-submarine
The drugs were offloaded in San Diego this week after they were seized in operations off the coasts of… pic.twitter.com/Dx6af7Zkq6
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) December 8, 2023
The recent seizures took place off the coasts of Mexico, South America and Central America, and were undertaken by the Eleventh Coast Guard District, which encompasses six Tier One ports, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond, according to the USGC Pacific Area website.
Four of the seizures were executed by the USGC cutter known as the Waesche, the USCG announced.
The ship patrols areas in the Pacific Ocean where narcotics are typically illegally transported, according to NBC San Diego.
More than 18,000 pounds of cocaine were seized by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Eastern Pacific Ocean this past November, and it was all offloaded in San Diego. https://t.co/hNTcD9tiLO
— NBC 7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) December 12, 2023
“All four of our interdictions on this patrol are crucial to the Coast Guard’s efforts to keep illicit drugs off the streets, but our last interdiction of a semi-submersible vessel was noteworthy since it was the first semi-submersible interdicted in the Eastern Pacific in over three years,” Capt. Robert Mohr, the head commanding officer of the Waesche, stated in the official USCG press release.
The Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security were also involved in the drug recovery efforts, according to the USCG. (RELATED: DOJ Convicts Foreign National Over Massive Drug Trafficking Conspiracy)
The other two seizures were completed by another cutter, known as the USCG Active.