Stabber
03-23-2007, 10:19 PM
Melted:devilzeek 21 1/2 tons
Coast Guard Seizes 43,000 Pounds of Cocaine
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 1:10 PM
The U.S. Coast Guard has seized 43,000 pounds of cocaine hidden in two containers aboard a ship off the coast of Panama, the largest-ever American seizure of the drug at sea, officials said today.
The Coast Guard cutters Hamilton and Sherman, based in California, intercepted the Panamanian-flagged Gatun Sunday about 20 miles southwest of Isla de Coiba after a patrol aircraft spotted the vessel the previous day, the Coast Guard said.
Fourteen Panamanian and Mexican crew members were arrested and will be charged by U.S. and Panamanian authorities, officials said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen credited the 19-metric ton cocaine seizure to intelligence work and assistance from Panama in a counter-drug program named Operation Panama Express that began in 2000.
"This record-breaking seizure denied the Mexican drug lords $300 million in drug revenue," Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Karen P. Tandy said. Combined with an unrelated record cash seizure of $205 million last week by Mexican authorities and the DEA, drug traffickers "are down more than half a billion dollars in blood money in just 48 hours," Tandy said.
The previous record U.S. maritime cocaine seizures were 30,000 pounds in Sept. 2004, and 26,000 pounds in May 2001.
Despite seizing 234 tons of cocaine in 2005 and setting a fifth consecutive yearly record, U.S. authorities report no sustained shortages in domestic drug markets. The movement of drugs from South America to the United States, primarily via Mexico, "has not abated or noticeably shifted" to new routes or methods, the State Department reported this month.
Coast Guard Seizes 43,000 Pounds of Cocaine
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 1:10 PM
The U.S. Coast Guard has seized 43,000 pounds of cocaine hidden in two containers aboard a ship off the coast of Panama, the largest-ever American seizure of the drug at sea, officials said today.
The Coast Guard cutters Hamilton and Sherman, based in California, intercepted the Panamanian-flagged Gatun Sunday about 20 miles southwest of Isla de Coiba after a patrol aircraft spotted the vessel the previous day, the Coast Guard said.
Fourteen Panamanian and Mexican crew members were arrested and will be charged by U.S. and Panamanian authorities, officials said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen credited the 19-metric ton cocaine seizure to intelligence work and assistance from Panama in a counter-drug program named Operation Panama Express that began in 2000.
"This record-breaking seizure denied the Mexican drug lords $300 million in drug revenue," Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Karen P. Tandy said. Combined with an unrelated record cash seizure of $205 million last week by Mexican authorities and the DEA, drug traffickers "are down more than half a billion dollars in blood money in just 48 hours," Tandy said.
The previous record U.S. maritime cocaine seizures were 30,000 pounds in Sept. 2004, and 26,000 pounds in May 2001.
Despite seizing 234 tons of cocaine in 2005 and setting a fifth consecutive yearly record, U.S. authorities report no sustained shortages in domestic drug markets. The movement of drugs from South America to the United States, primarily via Mexico, "has not abated or noticeably shifted" to new routes or methods, the State Department reported this month.