The Coast Guard Cutter Seneca offloaded more than one ton of marijuana Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale worth an estimated $2.4 million wholesale.
The 2,600 pounds of drugs were interdicted by the Coast Guard Cutter Diligence in April during a case approximately 80 miles south of Haiti.
US Coast Guard Cutter Diligence - Image courtesy of USCG
Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security are involved in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with allied and international partner agencies play a role in counter-drug operations. The fight against transnational organized crime networks in the Caribbean Basin requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys.
The Coast Guard increased U.S. and allied presence in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Basin, which are known drug transit zones off of Central and South America, as part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy.
The cutter Diligence is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter home-ported in Wilmington, North Carolina. The cutter Seneca is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter home-ported in Boston, Massachusetts.
Source: USCG