The Coast Guard has had a busy winter in the Pacific Ocean. According to the DEA, the Coast Guard has intercepted 13 vessels off the Pacific Coast of Central and South America with “approximately” 28,000 pounds of cocaine. Six tons alone came from a sub and 1,500 pounds of cocaine bales were found just floating around in the ocean, according to UPI.
To show off the haul and put smugglers on blast, the Coast Guard unloaded the haul for a photo op on Broadway Pier, San Diego. Check that out above.
Via CNN:
The drugs, stacked on pallets, were unloaded by cranes on Thursday to the deck of a Coast Guard cutter docked at San Diego’s Broadway Pier before the DEA took custody of the narcotics.
The Coast Guard says the approximate 28,000 pounds of cocaine came from seizures off the coasts of Central and South America in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Dozens of smugglers were arrested.
The drugs, with an estimated street value of at least $400 million, were confiscated between late January and early March. Cutters Bertholf and Valiant were involved in the operations, along with the Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen.
The Coast Guard says more 12,000 pounds of cocaine, almost half the haul, was pulled from a so-called “self-propelled semi-submersible” on March 3.
“Dozens” of smugglers were arrested, according to CNN.