Coast Guard Seized $11 Million Worth Of Drugs From Suspect Smugglers

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Resolute returns home to St. Petersburg, Saturday, following a 56-day Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) and Coast Guard District Seven (D7) Patrol in the Caribbean Sea, a news release said.

During the patrol, Resolute interdicted multiple suspected smugglers on a go-fast vessel obtaining 279.5 kilograms of cocaine, and rescued 260 Haitian migrants, Coast Guard officials said.

Resolute, with the assistance from a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) maritime patrol aircraft, tracked and pursued a drug smuggling boat for eight hours, resulting in a successful intercept and seizure. The suspected smugglers were detained and later transferred for case disposition in the United States, according to Department of Homeland Security officials.

Resolute conducted one of the largest single-unit repatriations into Cap Haitien, Haiti in recent history, Sept. 24, officials said. Small-boat crews conducted 78 consecutive transfers safely returning all 260 migrants and their personal belongings back to Haitian authorities.
On Sept. 22, Resolute interdicted an overcrowded sail freighter with 183 Haitian migrants including 17 children and infants aboard. Headed to the United States, the 55-foot boat was dangerously overloaded and lacked sufficient navigation and safety equipment to make the journey, crew members of the Resolute said.

All 183 migrants were taken safely to the ship where they were provided food, water, shelter and medical attention. In less than 24-hours, Resolute received an additional 77 migrants from another Coast Guard asset, raising the total count to 260.

“The migrant interdiction mission is always unique; while the migrants are attempting to escape the poor living conditions in Haiti, their unsafe voyages risk the lives of innocent people, including children,” Petty Officer First Class Joseph Wooley, a maritime enforcement specialist, said. “It is unfortunate to see, but it makes us feel good knowing that we potentially saved 183 people from capsizing and drowning at sea.”

After a long patrol, the crew is eager to return home and spend the holiday season with friends, family and loved ones, the Coast Guard said.

“The crew’s actions during this patrol were heroic and inspiring. I am especially impressed with their professional dexterity and ability to shift from counter-drug operations to humanitarian missions in a moment’s notice, embracing our service motto: Semper Paratus-Always Ready,” Cmdr. Justin Vanden Heuvel, commanding officer of Resolute, said.

Resolute is a 210-foot Reliance class cutter and has a crew of 72. Resolute was commissioned on December 8, 1966, and is homeported St. Petersburg, Florida.
For more information about Resolute’s patrol, please contact our Public Affairs Officer, Ensign Follow them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/uscoastguardcutterResolute.