HMCS Moncton, U.S. Coast Guard seize 1 ton cocaine in Caribbean Sea

A joint effort by the U.S. Coast Guard and HMCS Moncton led to more than 834 kilograms, or almost one ton, of cocaine being seized on Nov. 11 in the Caribbean Sea.

Just south of Jaragua, Dominican Republic HMCS Moncton was joined by an embarked U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area Tactical Law Enforcement detachment crew who stopped a suspect vessel.  The coast guard says 30 bales of cocaine were seized from the vessel and three suspected smugglers were arrested.

The amount of cocaine is estimated to be worth more than $23 million.

READ MORE: Canadian Armed Forces vessels have helped seize 2,162 kg of cocaine since October

Petty Officer 2nd Class Ashley Johnson told Global News that while the amount of cocaine was not the largest seizure the Coast Guard has made, it was still a significant amount.

“Any bit of cocaine is a bit we can get off the street,” she said.

According to Johnson, the cocaine and smugglers were eventually transported onto RFA Mounts Bay, an auxiliary landing ship dock, before being taken to shore in St. Petersburg, Fla. on board the Coast Guard Cutter Pelican. Both the suspected smugglers and contraband were offloaded once the Pelican docked on Monday.

The seizure occurred as HMCS Moncton was patrolling as part of Operation Caribbe, Canada’s contribution to Operation Martillo, according to the Coast Guard. Martillo is a U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South operation which detects, monitors and facilitates the “interdiction of illicit trafficking” of drugs, weapons, money and people.