"The Coast Guard is pushing for more ships, aircraft, and personnel to keeppace with the record flow of drugs heading toward the US. Recent drug offloads from Coast Guard cutters rank among the largest in the service's history, and leaders saythe flow of narcoticsthrough the eastern Pacific and Caribbean continues to rise. "From a service perspective, I'd say we need assets," Cmdr. Chris Guy, commanding officer of the Coast Guard's South Tactical Law Enforcement Team, told Business Insider."
"Last week, the Coast Guard cutter Stone offloaded over 49,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $362 million in Port Everglades, Florida, after a monthslong deployment in the eastern Pacific. The crew of the Stone, a Legends-class National Security cutter, completed 15 interdictions, including three in one night. The offload was the largest amount of cocaine ever seized by a single Coast Guard ship on one deployment, but it's just the latest in a string of major busts for the service."
The Coast Guard is encountering record drug offloads and increasing interdictions in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. Recent operations produced one of the largest single-ship cocaine seizures, with the cutter Stone offloading over 49,000 pounds valued at more than $362 million after 15 interdictions. Leadership says that rising trafficking volume and larger hauls require more ships, aircraft, personnel, and enhanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. The Coast Guard's force design plan for 2028 seeks workforce growth, additional cutters, fleet modernization, and more aviation assets to sustain and expand maritime drug-interdiction capacity.
Read at Business Insider
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