Coast Guard brings $338 million of seized cocaine to San Diego
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says nearly 20,000 pounds of cocaine seized in the eastern Pacific Ocean has been brought to San Diego.
The drug haul estimated to be worth about $338 million was scheduled for offloading from the cutter Munro at Naval Base San Diego on Monday morning.
The cocaine was seized in eight operations by the crews of four cutters between mid-November and mid-January.
It prompted this remark from David King, the Executive Director of the San Diego Imperial High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area: “A tenth of a gram is the dosage unit for cocaine. Often it’s cut with Fentanyl. In 2017, 68,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States of America.”
This latest drug interdiction mission off the coasts of Central and South America involved the Alameda-based Munro and three other cutters home ported in Virginia and Florida. If the Munro sounds familiar to some of you, she was here with another load of drugs just seven months ago, docked at North Island. Among the visitors then, Vice President Mike Pence.
The Coast Guard released aerial surveillance video showing boats being pursued and boarded at sea.
The Coast Guard says the campaign against drug cartels involves numerous U.S. agencies as well as the Navy.
