Port Angeles-based Coast Guard cutter intercepts 2,900 pounds of pot
Published 12:01 am Thursday, September 3, 2015
SAN DIEGO — The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Adelie intercepted an estimated 2,900 pounds of marijuana off the coast of San Diego last Saturday, the second drug haul for a Port Angeles-based cutter within the last week.
The California bust follows one in which the crew of the cutter Swordfish intercepted about 53 pounds of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), which is popularly known as ecstasy, near the San Juan Islands last Thursday. The drugs had an estimated street value of $1 million.
“The Coast Guard is the only U.S. agency with the broad authorities, capabilities, competencies and partnerships here and abroad to interdict bulk loads of drugs offshore before reaching land,” said Lt. Cmdr. Gregg Casad, deputy chief of enforcement for the Coast Guard 13th District.
“Our Port Angeles-based crews are having significant success disrupting criminal networks and eroding illicit drug trafficking far from home.”
The Adelie crew’s marijuana bust was part of a coordinated effort with the San Diego Regional Coordinating Mechanism, a group composed of the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Coast Guard and other law enforcement partners.
The Adelie crew discovered 168 bales of suspected marijuana aboard the Pasa Tiempo, a 43-foot sport vessel, during a routine patrol, said Seaman Sarah Wilson of the Coast Guard 13th District Public Affairs Office.
Two people were detained. Their names were not released.
The Adelie and the Swordfish are both based in Port Angeles.
