The U.S. Coast Guard seized more than a ton of suspected marijuana valued at over $2.4 million after crews stopped a suspicious high-speed vessel during a patrol, military officials said.
According to Joint Interagency Task Force South, crews later recovered 47 bales along the boat’s suspected route. The packages weighed a combined 2,082 pounds.
Four people were detained following the interdiction, JIATF-S said.
Officials said the operation began as a routine patrol when the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba spotted what they described as “a suspicious go-fast vessel” and deployed a boat crew to take a closer look.
Coast Guard crews recovered 47 bales of suspected marijuana weighing a combined 2,082 pounds and valued at more than $2.4 million, according to Joint Interagency Task Force South. (Joint Interagency Task Force South)
“The vessel stopped without further incident,” JIATF-S said.
During follow-on operations, Coast Guard crews discovered what officials described as a “bale field” along the vessel’s prior track and recovered the suspected marijuana, valued at more than $2.4 million.
“This mission required vigilance, professionalism, and seamless coordination from detection and pursuit to evidence recovery and search-and-rescue support,” JIATF-S said.
Coast Guard crews discovered what officials described as a “bale field” along the vessel’s prior route before recovering 47 bales of suspected marijuana. (Joint Interagency Task Force South)
JIATF-S did not specify where the incident took place, but thanked the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba and Joint Rescue Coordination Center Haiti for their “timely support, search assistance, and coordination throughout the operation.”
The drug seizure comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign targeting narcotics trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) touted the operation, saying the “bust is another demonstration of the United States’ resolve to stop the flow of dangerous drugs into the homeland.”
This week, SOUTHCOM said it conducted two operations in which U.S. forces intercepted and sank vessels in the Eastern Pacific that the military said were tied to Los Choneros, which it described as a violent narco-terrorist organization.
More than $2.4 million worth of suspected marijuana was recovered during a Coast Guard operation involving a suspicious go-fast vessel, according to military officials. (Joint Interagency Task Force South)
The U.S. military has also been involved in a monthslong campaign launched by the Trump administration aimed at dismantling cartel-linked trafficking networks, including dozens of strikes in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean targeting vessels it says are connected to “narco-terrorists.”
U.S. officials said the Coast Guard operation disrupted another suspected maritime drug-trafficking effort as authorities target narcotics networks across the Western Hemisphere. (Joint Interagency Task Force South)
The latest seizure follows another major Coast Guard drug bust off the coast of Puerto Rico last month.
The Coast Guard intercepted a suspected smuggling boat nearly 50 miles off the coast of the U.S. territory and discovered more than 7,000 pounds of cocaine worth about $54.5 million.
Five people aboard the suspected smuggling vessel were detained and taken into custody as part of that investigation.