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Over 9 tons of cocaine from six separate drug smuggling events were seized last month and offloaded in San Diego on Wednesday, authorities said.
The cocaine has an estimated street value of more than $239 million. It was recovered off the coasts of Mexico, Central America, and South America by two US. Coast Guard ships in November, the USCG said in a press release.
The largest seizure, weighing more than 5,500 pounds, was recovered by Coast Guard Cutter Waesche on Nov. 20. It was found on a narco-submarine.
“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,” said Captain Robert Mohr, the commanding officer of the Waesche.
Coast Guard Cutter Waesche is a 418-foot-long National Security Cutter, a type of ship used to support maritime homeland security and defense missions. The ship is one of eight in its class operated by the Coast Guard and has a home port in Alameda, California.
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The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche (WMSL 751) offloaded approximately 18,219 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated street value of more than $239 million, on Wednesday in San Diego.
The offload is a result of six separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America by the Coast Guard Cutters Waesche and Active in November.
- USCGC Waesche – 1,550 kg (3,417 lbs) cocaine (Nov. 7)
- USCGC Waesche – 1,309 kg (2,886 lbs) cocaine (Nov. 15)
- USCGC Waesche – 1,140 kg (2,513 lbs) cocaine (Nov. 16)
- USCGC Waesche – 2,510 kg (5,534 lbs) cocaine (Nov. 20)
Coast Guard Active, a smaller ship assigned primarily to law enforcement and search-and-rescue missions, recovered nearly 4,000 pounds of cocaine from two of the six operations.
- USCGC Active – 1,735 kg (3,825 lbs) cocaine (Nov. 23)
- USCGC Active – 20 kg (44 lbs) cocaine (Nov. 24)
More than 40 tons of cocaine were seized in 2023 according to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, making it the third most seized drug behind marijuana and methamphetamines.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Tara McGrath thanked the Coast Guard for its assistance in the fight against drug cartels in the state.
“The significance of keeping this much cocaine from reaching our shores and streets is, no doubt, life-changing,” said McGrath. “Without these 9 tons of cocaine on American streets, fewer people will have access to this toxic poison, and hundreds of millions of dollars will not make it into cartel coffers.”
According to statistics from the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 2020, the average sentence for powder cocaine trafficking was 5 1/2 years.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Tara McGrath thanked the Coast Guard for its assistance in the fight against drug cartels in the state.
“The significance of keeping this much cocaine from reaching our shores and streets is, no doubt, life-changing,” said McGrath. “Without these 9 tons of cocaine on American streets, fewer people will have access to this toxic poison, and hundreds of millions of dollars will not make it into cartel coffers.”
According to statistics from the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 2020, the average sentence for powder cocaine trafficking was 5 1/2 years.
Sources US Coast Guard, NBC News
I hope Sir got away.
ReplyDeleteWhere is he?
DeleteI hope he got away too
Delete612 he's locked up in Chino. That jale has hooks in him.
Delete8,264 kilos in under three weeks. You know someone is hurting.
ReplyDeleteSomeone is telling them about the route they didn’t just luck up on anything.
DeleteI’ve read and heard numerous times now that the MX cartels get their coke for about 3,000 a key wholesale..
DeleteIf so, that’s over $25 million USD of product.
Take into account US wholesale prices (near the border) and its $15,000-$20,000 a key.. thus making 8,200 keys worth nearly $150 million!
Your numbers are off
DeleteMilitary commanders getting their stuff taken, now they owe the Mexicans delivery. Nothing gets passed right now, they should know that.
DeleteIf nothing gota passed prices would surge. Just saying
DeleteYou will not find it shocking that cocaine causes brain damage when ingested. Historical and clinical FACT should remind folks to stay away from the crap. If you have a serious spinal injury, there are better things, and REINJURY while imagining that you can dance and do cartwheels again is guaranteed.
ReplyDeleteMajor blows to CDS CJNG BLO
ReplyDeleteI got a major blow.
DeleteYes 6:49 I had 2 blood clots in my brain which led to a massive stroke at 37yrs old. Type 2 respiratory failure and 7 months in hospital. 4 times in intensive care on a life support machine. In a wheelchair for life now and classed as severely disabled. All due to cocaine.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the UK
Jesus, what were you like a giant crackhead or something?
Deletecoke head your now useless hahahaha
DeleteSounds like someone stepped on ur coke with baby lax and plaster of paris
DeleteYou got that shit the Africans had stepped on heavily with Rat poison.
DeleteNote to self.....next time don't use green paint to camouflage drug sub in blue ocean.....ok got it.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is with these seizures is they are aggregated, and the media frames it, via the headline, and sometimes confusing reporting (but most people aren't reading)
ReplyDeleteBorderland's headline is accurate. But many just read the news when they throw all that work on the pier at San Diego and say they seized it all. No one wants to lose two tons, but it's not hundred's of millions. It's like 3 x 1000 or so.
This represents months of intelligence work, and interdiction efforts, almost always hand in hand with OCEDTF targeted seizures in the eastern Pacific.