ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (CBS12) — Nearly 12,600 pounds of cocaine, which is valued at over $93 million, was offloaded in St. Petersburg after a 59-day patrol by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Resolute.
“Yet again, the crew impressed me with their ability to achieve significant operational success and protect American interests while fighting every day to maintain a nearly 60-year-old ship in a challenging maritime environment,” said Cmdr. Ian Starr, Resolute’s commanding officer.
USCG said that Resolute collaborated with the Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South), a U.S. Department of Defense command, to counter illicit drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. The crew worked to detect, deter, and intercept drug smuggling operations into the United States.
For several weeks, Resolute was operating in the Eastern Pacific, overseeing an area exceeding 1,000,000 square miles. Midway through the patrol, other cutters like Escanaba, Tahoma, and Hamilton joined the effort, enhancing coverage of major drug-trafficking routes from Ecuador to the U.S., per the report…