While the Coast Guard used to look for rumrunners smuggling alcohol into the United States during Prohibition, today the focus is on illegal narcotics. The service has had many successes.
The 378-foot high endurance cutter CGC Boutwell returned to San Diego from a 90-day deployment in October 2014 with more than 28,000 pounds of cocaine apprehended during 18 separate interdictions by U.S. Coast Guard and Navy forces off the coast of Central and South America as part of Operation Martillo, the multinational mission targeting illicit trafficking along the Central American isthmus.
“The success of the crew of Cutter Boutwell, and of all our U.S. forces deployed throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean, showcase the resolve of the Coast Guard, our interagency partners, and the international community to combat transnational organized crime networks operating in the Western Hemisphere,” said Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area in Alameda, California. “These Coast Guard men and women successfully confronted the risks brought on by the rising threat of transnational organized crime networks, which must be confronted to ensure maritime safety, efficiency, and security in the Western Hemisphere.”
Personnel aboard a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) assigned to the guided-missile frigate USS Ingraham (FFG 61) come alongside the Maria Bonita after seizing 793 kilograms of cocaine, June 4, 2014. The vessel was towed for turnover to Costa Rican officials. U.S. Navy photo by Sonar Technician (Surface) Jeremy P. West
In May 2014, the Colombian navy and air force and U.S. Navy and Coast Guard forces aboard USS Ingraham (FFG 61) captured a semi-submersible vessel packed with $107 million worth of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific as the suspected traffickers punctured their hull in an attempt to scuttle the craft. A Coast Guard LEDET from Ingraham boarded the semi-submersible, detained the three-person crew, and gained control of the sinking vessel. Ingraham arrived and brought the semi-submersible alongside. Sailors from Ingraham pumped water out of the slowly sinking semi-submersible while the contraband – about 2,380 kilograms of cocaine – was removed.
During 2013, the Coast Guard interdicted more than 2,000 migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally – often aboard overcrowded, unsafe, and unsanitary vessels. The human trafficking at sea is not only illegal, it is deadly.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), partnering with the Coast Guard and other Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) partners, seized 3,500 pounds of marijuana in July 2014 and took into custody five individuals for conspiracy to possess a controlled substance aboard a vessel in U.S. jurisdiction.
“HSI will continue working with our CCSF partners to investigate and prosecute those who, in flagrant disregard of our laws and way of life, try to smuggle or transport illegal contraband into or outside our area of jurisdiction,” said Angel M. Melendez, special agent in charge of HSI San Juan. “This seizure demonstrates what can be accomplished when law enforcement agencies work together with vigilance and a commitment to enforce our nation’s customs laws.”
CCSF is a partnership composed of HSI, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action.
While on patrol during July 2014, the CGC Northland interdicted a suspicious 68-foot motor vessel transiting the Caribbean Sea with five crewmembers aboard. The Northland crew seized the marijuana, detained the crew, and transferred the illegal drug shipment to CCSF special agents who will investigate the criminal activity.