Coast Guard offloads more than $57 million in illicit drugs seized in the Caribbean Sea

MIAMI — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba offloaded approximately 7,250 pounds of cocaine and 2,082 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $57 million, on Monday in Port Everglades. The seizures resulted from two interdictions in the Caribbean Sea by the crews of Escanaba and the Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon with an embarked Coast Guard law enforcement detachment.

“The excellent watchstanding and quick, crucial decisions enabled success in this interdiction,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Douglas Strong, a boatswain’s mate assigned to Escanaba. “A complete ship-wide evolution must go flawlessly for an interdiction like this to happen. It was a textbook team effort that ensured over 2,000 pounds of illicit narcotics never made it into our communities. Thanks to the crews of Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon and Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean for their partnership – one team one fight.”

Assets and crews involved included Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba; U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team – Pacific, LEDET 101; Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon; Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean; Joint Interagency Task Force South; and Coast Guard Southeast District watchstanders.

The Coast Guard said the operation advances its mission to interdict, seize, and disrupt the transshipment of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs by sea, adding that persistent operations and rapid response have denied criminal organizations billions in illicit revenue and prevented dangerous drugs from reaching American communities. The service is the United States’ lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction as part of the Department of Homeland Security and a component of the joint force. Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are conducted under the authority and control of the Coast Guard Southeast District, headquartered in Miami.

Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, under U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command.