The US Coast Guard loves a good drug bust.
Back in July, footage of US Coast Guard vessel cutter Munro boarding a submarine went viral, and that time around law enforcement nabbed around 7,7 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated $232 million.
This time around, it was just the $165 million (around R2,5 billion) worth of cocaine seized in the Pacific Ocean, but that’s still a decent haul.
The New York Post reports:
Four drug smugglers were also arrested in the Sept. 1 bust by members of the Coast Guard cutter Valiant, who were on routine patrol in the Eastern Pacific when they detected the vessel carrying the powder.
After they detected the vessel, the Valiant crew dispatched two small boats with boarding teams to capture the submarine.
The crews discovered the vessel was carrying about 12,000 pounds of cocaine — 1,100 of which were safely recovered, authorities said.
The rest couldn’t be offloaded at the time, due to stability concerns of the vessel, but was later recovered.
Here’s the video shared by the Coast Guard:
The #Florida @USCG Cutter Valiant took down a narco sub carrying 12k lbs of cocaine in the #EasternPacific, cutting approximately $165 mil from smuggler pockets.
More info and photos here: https://t.co/mSb28nTIzF pic.twitter.com/hS5kRVtV3f
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) September 24, 2019
Not as dramatic as last time, but great work, nonetheless:
Valiant’s Commanding Officer Matthew Waldrom said in a statement, “There are no words to describe the feeling Valiant crew is experiencing right now.”
“In a 24-hour period, the crew both crossed the equator and intercepted a drug-laden self-propelled semi-submersible vessel. Each in and of themselves is momentous events in any cutterman’s career,” Waldrom said.
Fair play.
Enjoy the celebration party.
[source:nypost]
