Crews from the United States Navy and Coast Guard have recently intercepted approximately 8 billion dollars worth of cocaine, which weighs more than 329 tons, in a period of less than nine months. This is part of a worldwide operation to cut off drug smuggling routes emerging from Central America. More than 266 million dosages of cocaine will never make it to the streets of the United States—that’s the number!
These enormous cocaine smuggling busts are the outcome of “Operation Martillo,” which targeted illegal trafficking routes in coastal seas along the Central American isthmus. This operation was led by the “Joint Interagency Task Force South” (JITFS), which is a component of the United States Southern Command.
During this time, the crew of the United States Navy destroyer USS Sampson, which was carrying out a patrol for the United States Northern Command, recently came across a smuggling vessel that was transporting 7,850 pounds of cocaine with a value of $58.1 million. It was determined that the three individuals who were operating the vessel were smugglers, and their vessel was sunk while it was at sea.
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) joins the United States Navy and Coast Guard in its efforts to apprehend individuals who are attempting to smuggle goods between the country’s East and West coastlines. As it landed, the airplane that is depicted here was discovered to be carrying 880 pounds of cocaine. It was recovered by international law enforcement partners at a location that has not been disclosed. The aircraft was pursued by a CBP P-3 patrol aircraft over the Caribbean. All three of the individuals who were smuggling on board the aircraft were apprehended.
In a location that is closer to the United States of America, the Coast Guard was able to foil another attempt at smuggling when it responded to a vessel that was crippled off the coast of San Diego, California, last week. Two of the seven people on board are children who are not accompanied by an adult. It was discovered that they were illegal immigrants from Mexico and Chile. Agents from the Border Patrol were given complete control over them.
