More than 75,000 pounds of cocaine has been intercepted and seized from smugglers in the eastern Pacific Ocean since the Coast Guard launched what it calls Operation Viper in early August, Coast Guard officials said Sept.18.
On average more than 1,800 pounds of cocaine have been interdicted daily. Since Aug. 8 there have been more than 20 interdictions and 59 suspected traffickers arrested, according to the Coast Guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday it has seized more than 75,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since launching Operation Pacific Viper in early August, averaging over 1,800 pounds interdicted daily.
These drug seizures, and the apprehension of 59 individuals suspected of narco-trafficking, were the result of more than 20 interdictions since Aug. 8. The Coast Guard is accelerating its counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where significant transport of illicit narcotics continues from South America.
In coordination with international and interagency partners, the Coast Guard is surging additional cutters, aircraft and tactical teams to intercept and disrupt transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs toward the United States.
“The Coast Guard’s maritime fighting force is relentless in our ongoing operations to counter narco-terrorism,” said Rear Adm. Jeffrey Novak, deputy commander Pacific Area. “The Coast Guard is bringing every authority and every capability at our disposal to disrupt cartels and criminal organizations, stop the flow of deadly drugs into the U.S., and secure U.S. borders and maritime approaches.”
U.S. militart Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force-South, based in Key West, Fla., detects and monitors both aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs.
“Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension,” the Coast Guard notes. “Interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are performed by members of the U.S. Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard’s Southwest District, headquartered in Alameda, Calif.”
