PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles-based Coast Guard cutter and crew have returned home following a 50-day counter-narcotics patrol off the Pacific coast of Central America.
During the patrol, the 65-person crew of the Active interdicted three suspected smuggling vessels, detained nine suspects and seized more than 4,500 pounds of cocaine valued at over $68 million.
The crew returned to Port Angeles on Friday.
Active’s crew patrolled in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South, a National Task Force under U.S. Southern Command.
The interagency group oversees the detection and monitoring of illicit traffickers and assists U.S. and multinational law enforcement agencies with the interdiction of these illicit traffickers.
During at-sea busts in international waters, these interdictions are led and conducted by Coast Guard personnel or partner nation law enforcement agencies.
“We train hard to prepare for these patrols because we never know what to expect, and this time, it paid off,” said Cmdr. Benjamin D. Berg, the Active’s commanding officer,
“The crew performed at the top of their game during multiple successful interdictions of illegal narcotics likely bound for the streets of the United States.
“After two months of around-the-clock helicopter and boat operations, we are eager to return home.”
The Active routinely operates from Central America to the coast of Washington conducting search-and-rescue, counter-narcotics patrols, fisheries law enforcement and other Coast Guard missions.
“Our nation faces significant threats posed by transnational organized crime networks in the Eastern Pacific,” said Rear Adm. Meredith Austin, deputy commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area in Alameda, Calif., which manages all Coast Guard operations in its Pacific Theater.
“Defeating these criminal organizations requires an offensive strategy reliant on highly trained and dedicated Coast Guardsmen, like the crew of Active, to provide a persistent presence in known drug transit zones.”
Joint operations
U.S. maritime law enforcement and the interdiction phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific occur under the tactical control of the 11th Coast Guard District.
The district encompasses the states of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, and the coastal and offshore waters of Mexico and Central America down to South America.
“We ran joint operations with several agencies and international partners to be in the right place at the right time and with the right capabilities to disrupt the efforts of transnational organized crime networks,” said Berg.
“Stopping these smugglers on the high seas, far from shore, is crucial to our combined efforts to stop the flow of illegal activity, secure our borders and protect legitimate commerce.”
