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US$23m worth of cocaine seized in C'bean waters - US Coast Guard

Published:Wednesday | March 19, 2014 | 12:00 AM
This photo released by the US Coast Guard shows roughly four tons of cocaine being transferred from the guided-missile frigate USS Rentz by US law enforcement authorities to be used as evidence in legal proceedings against alleged smugglers.

FLORIDA (CMC):The United States Coast Guard says it has seized an estimated 1,500 pounds of cocaine nabbed in the Caribbean Sea earlier this month.

The Coast Guard said the drugs, offloaded here on Monday, had a wholesale value of US$23 million.

Coast Guard Cutter Tampa's commanding officer, Clinton Carlson, said the seizure on March 12 "highlights the hard work and dedication of our crews in stopping the illegal flow of drugs in the Caribbean.

"This interdiction demon-strates the effectiveness of our federal and interdiction partnerships to keep dangerous drugs off our streets," he added.

Carlson said the interdiction was part of Operation Martillo, which is one component in the United States government's "whole-of-government approach" to countering the use of the Central American littorals as trans-shipment routes for illicit drugs, weapons and cash through the Caribbean Sea.

Operation Martillo is an international operation focused on sharing informa-tion and bringing together air, land and maritime assets from the US Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and Western Hemisphere and European partner nation agencies to counter illicit drug trafficking, Carlson said.