Browsing: drug smuggling

Cruising Life
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Navy Combat Ship Makes Big Pacific Drug Bust

The USS Gabrielle Giffords, a Navy littoral combat ship, just seized more than $100 million worth of cocaine from a low-profile smuggling boat in the Pacific. Here’s the story from Seapower, the official publication of the Navy League of the United States: AT SEA — The Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 407 seized an estimated 2,810 kilograms of suspected cocaine, Dec. 5, the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs Office said in a Dec. 11 release. While on routine patrol, Gabrielle Giffords was diverted to intercept a low-profile vessel…

Cruising Life
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Dramatic Video Shows Spanish Police Chasing Drug Smugglers

The Spanish police arrested five alleged smugglers after a five-hour, 100-nm chase in the Med, taking dramatic video pictures from their helicopter as the men tried to escape, throwing cubes of a white substance, thought to be hashish, into the sea. You can see the video below. “Do you want to see what the chase on the  high seas was like?” the police asked in releasing the video. “More than five hours and 100 nautical miles.” The chase started when the National Police in their helicopter saw a 45-foot speedboat, with twin 300-hp outboards, about 80 nm off the coast…

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Drug Smugglers Now Using Low, Fast, Camouflaged Boats, but Are Still Getting Caught

Drug smugglers, it seems, are getting smarter. Well, if not smarter, at least faster. In an effort to thwart increased Coast Guard interdictions of suspected smuggling boats in the Pacific, the cartels are now running drugs in low, fast, camouflaged boats that are hard to pick up on radar, or to catch at sea. Still, a recent joint operation between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard resulted in 23 separate interdictions off Central and South America, capturing 47,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $721 million. The U.S. Coast Guard recently released videos and photos…