[ad_1]
The US Coast Guard announced Tuesday that it has seized a semi-submersible over 40 feet in the eastern Pacific Ocean, carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $ 165 million earlier this month.
The Florida-based Valiant cutter crew was tasked with intercepting the "narco sub" after it was detected and monitored by a patrol aircraft, the Coast Guard said in a statement Tuesday.
COAST GUARD HAS MORE THAN 12,000 COCAINE BOOKS
Two small boats with boarding crews were put in the water from the Valiant in order to disembark the submarine early in the morning with the help of the Colombian Navy assets. Four suspected drug smugglers were also apprehended.
The exact location where the boat was intercepted was not revealed.
"There are no words to describe the feeling that Valiant's crews are feeling at the moment," said Capt. Matthew Waldron, commander of the Valiant.
Members of the US Coast Guard boarding crew board the suspected contraband vessel
(Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Luke Clayton)
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
"In 24 hours, the crew crossed the equator and intercepted a semi-submersible, self-propelled, drug-laden vessel," he added. "Everyone in themselves is a momentous event in any couturier's career, but taken together, he is remarkably unprecedented."
The Coast Guard unloaded more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine but left the others because of concerns about the vessel's stability. More than 12,000 pounds of cocaine have recently been seized by the Coast Guard in banning alleged drug smuggling vessels off the west coast of Mexico, Central America and South America.
Fox News reporter Melissa Leon contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link