Coast Guard Busts Narco Submarine Carrying $165 Million Cocaine Shipment
The U.S. Coast Guard has intercepted the submarine manned by drug traffickers which was carrying a massive 12,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of around $165 million, according to a press release published on the U.S. Coast Guard website earlier today. The Coast Guard cutter Valiant caught up to the Self-Propelled Semi-Submersible (SPSS) while on a routine patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, taking its crew of people into custody in the process.
A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) originally detected the vessel, tracking it for a while before the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) diverted the Valiant’s crew for the intercept operation. The shipment of cocaine was so large that not all of it could be offloaded onto the Valiant as it may have caused the vessel to become unstable. The Valiant took on around 1,100 pounds of the shipment.
The interception was conducted by two separate teams launched on a pair of boats from the Valiant, with team members comprised of Valiant crew and two individuals from the Coast Guard Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team. Colombian Naval assets arrived on the scene to assist shortly after the interception happened in the small hours of the morning, helping with the subsequent boarding and law enforcement procedures. According to the press release, the joint operation was healthy for both the communication the international relations of the two nations involved in the bust.
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
Valiant‘s Commanding Officer, Matthew Waldron, made a statement expressing his delight with the bust and his crew’s efforts in the operation, who he says went the extra mile to make the mission a success.
“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. Taken together, however, it is truly remarkably unprecedented. This interdiction was an all-hands-on-deck evolution, and each crew member performed above and beyond the call of duty. Additionally, we could not have successfully completed this interdiction without the love and support of our families back home, many of whom evacuated from Jacksonville this week for Hurricane Dorian.”
The Commander also shared his heartfelt thanks to the Valiant crew’s families.
Cocaine is a Schedule A substance in the U.S. as reality television star Mama June and her boyfriend Geno discovered after they were charged with possession, per The Inquisitr a couple of weeks ago.
