More than 11 tons, or 22,000 pounds, of cocaine seized in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean from late August to mid-September will be offloaded in San Diego Wednesday by the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton.
The drugs were seized from eight suspected smuggling vessels found off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America by the Coast Guard cutters Stratton, Seneca and Active, according to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard.
"This offload reflects the outstanding efforts of the Coast Guard and our partner agencies to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations," said Capt. Craig J. Wieschhorster, the Stratton's skipper. "These interdiction results take hundreds of millions of dollars away from these criminal networks that work to undermine the rule of law in South and Central America which increases migration pressures on the U.S. southern border. Keeping this product off the streets of America saves lives, and I am very proud of the efforts of my crew."
The Stratton was responsible for stopping six vessels, while the Active and Seneca both stopped one vessel each.
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