U.S. Coast Gaurd Cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913) crew members stack bales of illegal narcotics on the flight deck of the cutter during a drug offload at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 10, 2024. (Diana Sherbs/U.S. Coast Guard)
(Tribune News Service) — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mohawk offloaded a huge haul of cocaine and marijuana on Friday at Port Everglades that it and other agencies and service branches seized during a deployment patrolling the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
The 13,803 pounds of cocaine and 3,736 pounds of marijuana have a total estimated street value of $185 million, the Coast Guard said in a press release.
The Mohawk, a ship with a crew of 100 sailors based in Key West, is part of a task force that includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, the U.S. Navy, along with the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal British Navy, that patrols the Caribbean and Atlantic for drug smugglers.
As part of this latest deployment, the task force detained 10 people accused of drug smuggling, according to the press release.
One notable case was in March, when U.S. Navy sailors and a detachment of Coast Guard members aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf intercepted a small, semi-submersible boat in the Atlantic, according to a Navy press release.
A Navy helicopter crew spotted the vessel, and a Coast Guard patrol boat was launched to stop the semi-submersible, according to the release.
The crew found 600 kilos of cocaine aboard, the Navy said.
U.S. Coast Gaurd Cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913) crew moors alongside a pier at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 10, 2024. The crew met with U.S. Coast Guard agents and partner agencies to offload 10 suspected smugglers and approximately $185 million worth of illegal narcotics. (Diana Sherbs/U.S. Coast Guard)
A helicopter from the USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) hovers over the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913) in the Atlantic Ocean, April 24, 2024. (U.S. Coast Guard)
“Spotting this vessel was like finding a needle in the haystack,” Lt. Cmdr. Travis Lee, Leyte Gulf’s senior aviator, said in a statement. “I’ve been doing this for seven years and not once been able to find and acquire such an asset until now.”
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