Coast Guard Cutter Returns to Wash. Following Law Enforcement Patrol
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Active returned to its Port Angeles, Wash. homeport on Feb. 10 following a 65-day law enforcement patrol off the Southern California coast.
The cutter’s crew covered more than 5,500 miles on patrol in support of Coast Guard District 11’s Southwest Maritime Border Security operations. The operations counter Transnational Criminal Organization activity in the Coastal California Region and the United States Pacific Maritime Southern Border including immigration operations.
Active’s crew, the Coast Guard said in a statement, interdicted three vessels carrying 46 undocumented immigrants, while providing assistance in the apprehension of another 40 migrants. They “were all safely transferred to the custody of Customs and Border Protection agents in San Diego,” officials added.
“Active’s crew interdicted three vessels carrying 46 illegal aliens in total, while providing assistance and direction to aid in the apprehension of another 40 illegal aliens,” the Guard said in a statement. “The illegal aliens were all safely transferred to the custody of Customs and Border Protection agents in San Diego.”
To enhance the crew’s military readiness, they conducted training exercises with regional Coast Guard crews, including an Air Station San Francisco MH-65 helicopter air crew, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Terrell Horne, a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in San Pedro, Calif., as well as teams from the San Diego-based Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team West.
Additionally, while operating offshore in Northern California, the crew responded to four search-and-rescue cases.
The Active is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter. Patrolling from the northern-most part of the contiguous United States, and as far south as the equator, Active has conducted law enforcement, defense operations and search-and-rescue missions for over 60 years.
It is a multi-mission platform that falls under the operational command of the Coast Guard Pacific Area Commander.
Coast Guard Offloads More Than $275 Million Worth of Cocaine in San Diego
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Waesche offloaded about 37,256 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of more than $275 million, on Feb. 13 in San Diego.
The offload is a result of 11 separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America by the Coast Guard cutter Waesche from last December through February.
The Waesche is one of four legend-class national security cutters homeported in Alameda, Calif.
“The Waesche crew faced numerous challenges during this patrol, overcoming the hardest adversities and still had 11 successful drug interdictions,” Waesche Commanding Officer Capt. Tyson Scofield said. “Their dedication, strength of character and resilience ensured the success of our mission, preventing over $275 million worth of illicit narcotics from reaching the United States.”
Multiple U.S. agencies, including the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security, collaborate in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, all play a role in counter-narcotic operations.
The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard’s District 11, headquartered in Alameda, Calif.
The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by the Coast Guard, which this year has increased operations to interdict, seize and disrupt trans-shipment of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs by sea.