Cargo ship arrested in cocaine bust
US Coast Guard officials have seized more than 970kg of cocaine worth an estimated $32.4M from a general cargo vessel in the Caribbean Sea. The Coast Guard Cutter Tampa had been on patrol in support of migrant and drug interdiction operations in the Windward Passage, between Cuba and Haiti, when it came across the suspect vessel, the Panamanian-flagged Memory, in international waters on 10 August, the agency said.
The cutter's crew found the drugs in a hidden compartment after a multi-day search of the 2,145dwt, 1978-built vessel.
"This is a huge win for the crew," said Clinton Carlson, commanding officer of the Tampa.
"A boarding like this takes the concerted effort of all hands in one form or another, and the Tampa crew did magnificent and ultimately kept these drugs from crossing our borders." The vessel, 11 suspects and narcotics were turned over to the Department of Justice, Southern District of Florida for prosecution, the Coast Guard said.
The Memory is operated by Memory Ocean Trade, based in Colombia, according to IHS Maritime data.
US Coast Guard officials have seized more than 970kg of cocaine worth an estimated $32.4M from a general cargo vessel in the Caribbean Sea. The Coast Guard Cutter Tampa had been on patrol in support of migrant and drug interdiction operations in the Windward Passage, between Cuba and Haiti, when it came across the suspect vessel, the Panamanian-flagged Memory, in international waters on 10 August, the agency said.
The cutter's crew found the drugs in a hidden compartment after a multi-day search of the 2,145dwt, 1978-built vessel.
"This is a huge win for the crew," said Clinton Carlson, commanding officer of the Tampa.
"A boarding like this takes the concerted effort of all hands in one form or another, and the Tampa crew did magnificent and ultimately kept these drugs from crossing our borders." The vessel, 11 suspects and narcotics were turned over to the Department of Justice, Southern District of Florida for prosecution, the Coast Guard said.
The Memory is operated by Memory Ocean Trade, based in Colombia, according to IHS Maritime data.