BUSTED: 8 1/2 TONS of Cocaine in EPO Region

Posted by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: US Coast Guard News

SAN DIEGO — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast offloaded approximately 7,800 kilograms of cocaine, worth nearly $260-million wholesale, seized in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off Central and South America at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, San Diego, Monday.

Crews from the cutters Steadfast and Alert interdicted the drugs from four suspected smuggling vessels between late June and mid-July. Steadfast’s crew was responsible for two interdictions totaling approximately 5,450 kilograms and Alert’s crew seized some 2,392 kilograms in two seizures.

“I continue to be impressed by the dedication and tenacity of the crews aboard our cutters and the difficult, dangerous missions they perform,” said Cmdr. Alain Balmaceda, commanding officer of the Steadfast. “Their hard work means two things. First, more than eight tons of cocaine won’t reach our streets and add to the drug-related deaths and health problems facing our nation. And second, hundreds of millions of dollars are being denied to transnational criminal organizations who spread instability, death and despair wherever they operate.”

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More than 5,000 kilograms seized by Steadfast’s crew was recovered from one panga-type fishing boat. The suspected smugglers on that boat dumped their cocaine load and managed to evade capture following a high-speed chase but the trail of cocaine bales recovered is one of the largest loads to be intercepted from a single small vessel in years. 

The last seizure over 5,000 kilograms was in March 2016 from a self-propelled semi-submersible craft with approximately 5,800 kilograms. The last seizure over 5,000 kilograms from a panga was 6,840 kilograms in November 2005.

Numerous U.S. agencies from the Department of Defense, Department of Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with allied and international partner agencies play a role in counter-drug operations. 

The fight against transnational organized crime networks in the Eastern Pacific requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation.

The Coast Guard increased U.S. and allied presence in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Basin, which are known drug transit zones off of Central and South America, as part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy. During at-sea interdictions in international waters, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida. 

The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, California. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Steadfast and Alert are both 210-foot medium endurance Reliance-class cutters based in Warrenton, Oregon.

                                 USBC has also been busy : 12.2 Kilos of Methamphetamine

From: El Sol de TJ

San Diego.- Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Centro Sector, confiscated just over 12 kilos of methamphetamine and arrested a woman for the crime of contraband. The incident was recorded on highway 86, at an immigration checkpoint.

According to the authorities, the incident was reported during the weekend, around 9:00 p.m., when a 45-year-old woman, who was traveling on board a vehicle with her minor child, approached the police control checkpoint. During the first inspection, a canine team of the Border Patrol warned about the presence of something suspicious inside the unit.

During a secondary inspection, the canine team alerted in relation to the vehicle's gas cap. Inside, they discovered several sealed packages hidden in the fuel tank, which tested positive for the characteristics of methamphetamine.

In total, agents reported that the final weight was 12.02 kilos, with an estimated street value of $71,470 dollars. The woman, a United States citizen, was presented to the corresponding authorities; the child was turned over to Imperial County Social Services.

So far in fiscal year 2018, agents in the El Centro sector have seized more than 825.11 pounds of methamphetamine.

                                                PEP Also Busy with Heroin in TJ:

TIJUANA.- As a result of a research and intelligence work by the State Preventive Police (PEP) based on an anonymous report to 089, they managed to secure a subject in the Colonia Campestre Murúa  in possession of more than 11 kilos of heroin.

The state elements had information that in the Murúa Campestre Private, in the "E" building, there was a person apparently in possession of drugs, so they moved to the place where they carried out surveillance at their discretion.

Moments later they realized that in the #302 apartment  a subject left that coincided with the data of the investigation and addresses a Volkswagen Jetta vehicle, model 2007, so they immediately intervened.

The subject identified himself as Juan Pablo "N", 34 years old, who was asked to descend, so they proceeded to make an inspection inside the vehicle in which twenty packages wrapped with cinnamon colored tape were located.

These packages contained a pasty substance of brown color with characteristics similar to heroin which yielded a weight of 11 kilos 200 grams.

The subject was immediately secured and placed at the disposal of the Federal Public Ministry who will be responsible for determining their legal status.