PORT ANGELES — Coast Guard cutter Active has returned home to Port Angeles after a 50-day counter-drug deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean after the crew seized $87 million worth of cocaine.
The cutter, carrying its 75-member crew, docked in Port Angeles on Friday.
The crew conducted multiple law enforcement boardings in international waters off the coasts of Central and South America, the Coast Guard said.
It interdicted three suspected smuggling vessels, disrupting the movement of 5,794 pounds of illicit narcotics.
An Air Station Port Angeles aircrew and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter embarked aboard Active for the majority of the patrol, the Coast Guard said.
The aircrew aided in the interdiction of suspected narcotics traffickers.
Two members of the Chilean Navy also deployed aboard Active during the patrol.
Coast Guard cutters operate under the tactical control of Coast Guard District Eleven in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) while conducting counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. Coast Guard partners with other nations through bilateral agreements to conduct interdictions in foreign and international waters.
Active is a 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter commissioned in 1966 and homeported in Port Angeles.
Active’s crew routinely operate from the Straits of Juan de Fuca down to the waters off Central America.
