19 November 2024, San Diago, CA – The Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL-755) pulled into San Diego, Calif., on Tuesday and offloaded nearly 15 tons of cocaine that Coast Guard and Navy vessels intercepted from drug-smuggling vessels during recent patrols.
The massive seizure of more than 29,000 pounds of illicit drugs – officials estimate its street value at $335.9 million – was captured during patrols in September and October by Munro, Coast Guard cutters USCGC Vigorous (WMEC-627) and USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753) and Navy Littoral Combat Ship USS St. Louis (LCS-19), according to the Coast Guard Pacific Area.
Munro’s crew gathered around stacks of palletized and bundled bales of drugs displayed on the vessel’s deck for a press conference alongside an unmanned aerial vehicle used in the counter-narcotics patrols and operations to thwart contraband moved by drug cartels at sea.
“I would put this crew on any mission, anywhere, at any time,” Capt. James O’Mara, Munro’s commander, said in a Coast Guard news release. “They executed everything asked of them with incredible teamwork and persistence, and we are proud of the results. Hats off to all our international and interagency partners – we absolutely cannot do this mission without them.”
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) crewmembers stand alongside more than 29,000 pounds of cocaine seized from suspected drug-smuggling vessels interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Nov. 19, 2024. Munro’s crew offloaded the contraband seized from eleven interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America by the Coast Guard Cutters Munro, Vigorous, Hamilton, and the USS St. Louis between September and October. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Samika Lewis.
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