SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier offloaded more than 1,115 pounds of cocaine with an assessed street value of approximately $14.7 million in San Juan, Thursday.
A US Coast Guard law enforcement detachment deployed aboard a British Royal Navy ship, working alongside interagency and international partners, interdicted the illegal drugs in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea.
“Another success within 24 hours of Trent’s return to counter-trafficking operations continues to demonstrate the utility of this class of ship to support such activity. It relies on the involvement of every member of my team, and they can be proud of another significant haul,” said Cmdr. Tim Langford, commanding officer of HMS Trent. “These interdictions are also reliant on the close working relationship that exists between the US Coast Guard and my team, supported from ashore by the Joint Interagency Task Force-South.”
The following assets and crews were involved in the interdictions:
Royal British Navy ship HMS Trent (P 244);
US Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team Pacific (PAC-TACLET) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 111;
Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South).
Three suspected smugglers will face prosecution by the US attorney’s office for the District of Puerto Rico.
The US Coast Guard is simultaneously a military service and the United States’ lead federal maritime law enforcement agency with authority to enforce national and international laws on the high seas and waters within US jurisdiction. Coast Guard LEDETs regularly deploy aboard US Navy and foreign allied navy ships, and during these deployments the LEDETs take the lead under US law to board vessels, seize illegal drugs and apprehend suspects. These forces also work closely with other regional partner nation coast guards and naval forces to provide support to visit, board, search and seizure operations within partner nation territorial waters.
Detecting and interdicting illicit drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. The Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the US Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension. Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the US Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, headquartered in Miami.
This interdiction is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
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