Earlier this month, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Calhoun made an unusual drug bust – not unusual for the substance or the quantity, but for the location on the high seas of the mid-Atlantic.
On April 12, Calhoun’s crew detected a suspicious fishing vessel operating in a manner that might indicate narcotics trafficking. The vessel was operating about 1,200 miles west of Las Palmas, about midway between Venezuela and the English Channel. Maritime cocaine trafficking in this region helps supply the European consumer market; Spanish authorities operating from the Canary Islands routinely intercept shipmentsin the area to the east.
Calhoun’s crew launched their pursuit boat and intercepted the fishing vessel. They caught five suspects and seized about 10,000 pounds (4.5 tonnes) of cocaine.
Courtesy USCG
“Our dedicated crews, in close coordination with interagency and international partners, continue to disrupt the flow of illicit narcotics, which serves as a critical strategic action that disrupts the financial networks of TCOs, undermining their ability to fund further illicit activities that threaten our communities,” said Vice Adm. Nathan Moore, commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area.
USCGC Calhoun is on a multimonth deployment in the Atlantic. In March, she held a series of exercises with the French Navy; on April 2, her crew held a wreath-laying ceremony in England’s Bristol Channel to commemorate the sinking of the cutter USCGCTampa, which was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in September 1918. 130 crewmembers were lost in that tragedy, including 111 coastguardsmen.
