By: Staff Writer
June 20, 2023
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) intercepted more than 14,000 pounds of cocaine worth over $186m in multiple seizures across Caribbean waters, the agency said Saturday.
The Coast Guard said in a news release that more than 14,000 pounds (6,400 kilograms) of cocaine was intercepted recently in nine separate cases. Twelve suspected drug smugglers were arrested on a variety of charges.
“The contraband offloaded today represents the professional expertise and dedication of U.S. defence and law enforcement agencies working together to combat the flow of illicit drugs through the Caribbean Region into the United States,” said Lt. Peter Hutchison, duty enforcement officer at Coast Guard District Seven, said in the release. “This teamwork is imperative to the identification, interception, and seizure of vessels engaged in illicit trafficking and a testament to the hard work of these crews.”
This is the largest cocaine seizure apprehended by US Coast Guard officials in the last several weeks. Back in April, $61m worth of cocaine was seized by the US Coast Guard on its way to the US from the Dominican Republic. Nine people were arrested in connection with that seizure.
In September, 2022, US Coast Guard officials seized almost 30,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana, valued at more than $475m, from Caribbean waters. The crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Legare offloaded 24,700 pounds of cocaine and 3,892 pounds of marijuana. The drugs recovered were found in international waters, and efforts were taken by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard and the Royal Netherlands Navy to confiscate the drugs from suspected drug cartels.
Despite the seizures the cartels are stronger than ever as Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean comprising of 90 percent of all of the cocaine that enter into the US.
For the North American market, cocaine is typically transported from Colombia to Mexico or Central America by sea and then onwards by land to the United States and Canada.
During the 1980s, the Caribbean Sea was the preferred route for Latin America’s drug traffickers, with around 80 percent of all US-bound cocaine transiting through the region. Ensuing anti-narcotic operations in the Caribbean pushed traffickers towards Central America, which became the primary transit corridor to the United States.
However, there have been indications since at least 2010 that the Caribbean route is re-emerging. In 2013, cocaine flow to the United States via the Caribbean reportedly reached its highest levels in a decade. Drug interdiction efforts in Mexico and Central America — including various US-led initiatives — may be behind this shift back to the Caribbean route, which currently represents around 15 percent of all cocaine movement in the Western Hemisphere.
Today, large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and other drugs transit through the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, the Dutch Caribbean and the Eastern Caribbean.