| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard |
|
| Press Release | Date: March 21, 2007 Contact: Steve Blando |
FACT SHEET: COAST GUARD COCAINE INTERDICTION
The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction and shares lead responsibility for air interdiction with Customs and Border Protection. As such, it is a key player in combating the flow of illegal drugs to the
The Coast Guard’s mission is to reduce the supply of drugs from the source by denying smugglers the use of air and maritime routes in the transit zone, a six-million square mile area which includes the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the
Recently, the Coast Guard set a record for the most cocaine removed for the first quarter of a fiscal year. From Oct. 1, 2006, until Jan.1, 2007, the Coast Guard removed 97,635 pounds of the drug, eclipsing the previous high of 76,925 pounds set during the first quarter of last year.
With a seizure Sunday in excess of 42,000 pounds, the cocaine seized aboard the motor vessel Gatun easily exceeds the prior record for the drug removed from a single vessel. The top 10 cocaine seizures prior to the Gatun seizure were:
Date Vessel Pounds Unit
09/17/2004 Lina Maria 30,109 Coast Guard LEDET*
05/01/2001 Svesda Maru 26,397 Cutter Active/Coast Guard LEDET*
09/23/2004 San Jose 26,369 Coast Guard LEDET*
02/10/2002 Paulo 25,300 Coast Guard LEDET*
07/27/1995 Nataly I 24,325 Coast Guard LEDET*
03/01/2007 Ocean Song 22,850 Coast Guard LEDET*
08/11/1999 Xoloescuintle 21,036 Cutter Munro/Mexican Navy
12/21/2001 Macel 20,946 Coast Guard LEDET*
02/24/2001 Forever My Friend 19,883 Coast Guard LEDET*
10/20/2006 Calypso V 19,468 Coast Guard LEDET*
*In 1986, Congress authorized the establishment of billets for active duty Coast Guard members attached to Coast Guard LEDETs (Law Enforcement Detachments) tasked with operating aboard US Navy and foreign naval ships to investigate contacts and to carry out drug interdiction operations.
Pounds of cocaine seized by the Coast Guard to date in 2007 and during the past 10 fiscal years:
Fiscal Year Pounds Seized
2007* 167,645
2006 234,337
2005 303,662
2004 241,713
2003 136,865
2002 117,780
2001 138,393
2000 132,480
1999 111,689
1998 82,623
1997 103,617
*As of March 21, 2007
The cocaine seized to date in fiscal year 2007 exceeds the yearly totals of all but three of the last 15 fiscal years.
###
The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.
printer friendly