Cocaine seizures: 1,800K of cocaine off Dominican Republic coast
Crew members aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa transport bales of cocaine off the cutter at Port Canaveral in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. The Tampa crew recovered more than 75 bales of cocaine from the water off Panama after the suspected drug smugglers jettisoned the contraband in an attempt to flee law enforcement. In separate U.S. Coast Guard cocaine seizures, they confiscated about 1,800 kilos of cocaine 300 miles south of the Dominican Republic coast. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Lauren Jorgensen)
About 300 miles south of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Coast Guard confiscated about 1,800 kilos of cocaine.
The cocaine seizures took place on November 25 and 27. U.S. Coast Guards intercepted two shipments, seizing $45 million worth of cocaine.
On November 25, a ship with 38 bales of 950 kilos of cocaine, which is approximately 2,094 pounds of cocaine, was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard about 300 miles south of the Dominican Republic, reports Listin Diario.
During the second cocaine seizure, on November 27, officials confiscated 26 packages of cocaine totaling 1,873 pounds of cocaine, on a sailboat.
In November U.S. ambassador Raul Yzaguirre urged the need for more enforcement to stop corruption and drug trafficking. He proposed the installation of X-rays in Dominican Republic ports.
“It’s a serious problem and we recognize that although the Dominican Republic is not the highest hub for the transhipment of drugs, when we start to control the flow in Central America, the trend is a diversion to the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic,” he told newspaper Diario Libre at the time.
Coast Guard uses high-tech surveillance in cocaine seizures
The U.S. Coast Guard used surveillance aircraft HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Miami Air Station in the cocaine seizures where they intercepted 1,800 kilos of cocaine 300 miles south of the Dominican Republic. (Photo/ EADS North America)
U.S. Coast Guard San Juan Sector commander Capt. Drew Pearson said the agency collaborated with other federal agencies, the Dominican Today reports.
According to the Dominican Today, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted four men aboard a suspected ship dumping cargo overboard and fleeing. The Coast Guard used surveillance aircraft HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Miami Air Station during this operation.
Under Operation Unified Resolve the Coast Guard, in partnership with regional law enforcement authorities in the Caribbean, has seized 20,895 pounds (about 9000 kilos) of cocaine and 6,900 pounds of marijuana in 15 law enforcement cases, reports CBS News.
The combined drug seizures have a street value of $262 million.
Video: Coast Guard cocaine seizure
