After 46 days in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Active came back to its Port Angeles homeport Dec. 18.
The crew of the 210-foot medium endurance cutter travelled 10,056 nautical miles patrolling the Central American coast and teaming up with U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew members from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) to locate and prevent drug smuggling vessels.
Cutter Active also partnered with Pacific Area Tactical Law Enforcement Team, which added to the unit’s enforcement capabilities.
During the deployment, Active crew members interdicted a pair of suspected drug smuggling vessels, took control of about $159 million worth of cocaine and held 13 suspected narcotics traffickers.
“The Active crew gave everything to this deployment,” said Cmdr. James O’Mara, Active’s commanding officer. “We proved our readiness by adapting to an unscheduled embarkation of a HITRON helo and seamlessly integrated that crew. We cancelled port calls, extended patrol legs, stretched our fuel state and food stores to the limit, all in support of this mission. The crew answered the call, and they executed with distinction. Our success traces back to the support from our families – and these results serve as a capstone for an entire year of operational results, which have confirmed, for me, that no crew compares to Active. Period.”
