27 tons of cocaine seized
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Two Pacific Fleet ships on counternarcotics missions to the Eastern Pacific have confiscated more than 27 tons of cocaine off the Galapagos Islands and Mexico — among the largest maritime seizures of cocaine in U.S. history.
54,000: Pounds of cocaine seized in two recent raids near Mexico and the Galapagos Islands. It is the largest amount ever seized at sea. 240,518: Pounds of cocaine seized by the U.S. Coast Guard in the past year, a record. s Value of drugs seized in the past year.
The recent seizures included 13 tons of cocaine, with a street value of more than $750 million, found Friday aboard the fishing vessel San Jose about 1,000 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. The Pearl Harbor-based frigate USS Crommelin led the effort.
By the numbers
The frigate has disrupted four narcotics-smuggling operations, confiscated nearly $1 billion worth of cocaine, and detained 32 suspected smugglers since reporting May 20 for a six-month mission, the Navy said.
By comparison, after returning from a six-month tour to the Eastern Pacific last year, the frigate intercepted six tons of cocaine.
On Sept. 17, the frigate USS Curts out of San Diego intercepted the fishing vessel Lina Maria about 300 miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands with 14.52 tons of cocaine aboard. Ten crew members were arrested.
The seizures bring the total of cocaine seized by the Coast Guard this year to a record 240,518 pounds — worth $7.7 billion. That includes 4,387 pounds of the drug seized Sept. 9 by the Honolulu-based Coast Guard cutter Jarvis after it was jettisoned during a chase with a speedboat off Mexico.
Navy ships are routinely sent to the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean in support of the U.S. war on drugs. The Pentagon entered the drug war in the late 1980s, and frigates like the Crommelin have played a key role as the end of the Cold War eliminated the prospect of a confrontation with a Soviet superpower on the high seas.
The latest seizures had support from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 37 from Kane'ohe Bay and HSL 45 out of San Diego, in addition to U.S. Navy P-3 maritime patrol aircraft.
The multi-agency effort, "Operation Panama Express," is a longstanding organized crime and drug task force based out of Tampa, Fla.
"The success of these operations can only be credited to the synergy developed between the U.S. Navy, the Coast Guard and other agencies in the (area of operation)," said Rear Adm. Vinson E. Smith, the commander of naval assets in the Southern Command area.
Military anti-drug missions have become a part of the war on terrorism and efforts to eliminate financing for insurgents, but some have questioned the effectiveness of the effort.
Joseph Miranda, a former instructor at the U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center, concluded that the United States cannot win the war on drugs, and that to do so militarily would require a doubling of the U.S. armed forces.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
