Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th

(e.g. yourname@email.com)

Forgot Password?

    Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Logo

    Local Coast Guard crew returns from counter-drug deployment

    PORT ANGELES, WA, UNITED STATES

    10.02.2015

    Story by Lt. Donnie Brzuska 

    U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area

    PORT ANGELES, Wash. — A local Coast Guard cutter and crew is scheduled to return to Port Angeles, Friday at 10 a.m. (PDT), following a successful 50-day counter-narcotics patrol off the Pacific coast of Central America.

    During the patrol, the 65-person crew of Coast Guard Cutter Active interdicted three suspected smuggling vessels, detained nine suspects, and seized more than 4,500 pounds of cocaine valued at over $68 million.

    "We train hard to prepare for these patrols because we never know what to expect, and this time it paid off,” said Active’s Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Benjamin D. Berg.
    “The crew performed at the top of their game during multiple successful interdictions of illegal narcotics likely bound for the streets of the United States. After two months of around-the-clock helicopter and boat operations, we are eager to return home.”

    Active’s crew routinely operates from Central America to the coast of Washington conducting search and rescue, counter-narcotics patrols, fisheries law enforcement, and other Coast Guard missions.

    “Our Nation faces significant threats posed by transnational organized crime networks in the Eastern Pacific,” said Rear Adm. Meredith Austin, deputy commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area in Alameda, California, which manages all Coast Guard operations in the Pacific Theater. “Defeating these criminal organizations requires an offensive strategy reliant on highly-trained and dedicated Coast Guardsmen, like the crew of Active, to provide a persistent presence in known drug transit zones.”

    U.S. maritime law enforcement and the interdiction phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific occur under the tactical control of the Eleventh Coast Guard District. The Eleventh Coast Guard District encompasses the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, and the coastal and the offshore waters of Mexico and Central America down to South America.

    Active’s crew patrolled in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South, a National Task Force under U.S. Southern Command. JIATF South oversees the detection and monitoring of illicit traffickers and assists U.S. and multi-national law enforcement agencies with the interdiction of these illicit traffickers. During at-sea busts in international waters, these interdictions are led and conducted by U.S. Coast Guard personnel or partner nation law enforcement agencies.

    “We ran joint operations with several agencies and international partners to be in the right place, at the right time, and with the right capabilities to disrupt the efforts of transnational organized crime networks,” said Berg. “Stopping these smugglers on the high seas, far from shore, is crucial to our combined efforts to stop the flow of illegal activity, secure our borders, and protect legitimate commerce.”

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.02.2015
    Date Posted: 10.02.2015 11:19
    Story ID: 177881
    Location: PORT ANGELES, WA, US

    Web Views: 107
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN