US CBP Intercepts USD 17 Mn Drug Shipment

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) have seized over three tons of drugs from a panga-style vessel.

In late March 2019, agents patrolling in a P-3 discovered the suspect vessel that was located in international waters off the coast of Central America.

A US Coast Guard law enforcement team aboard a US Navy ship patrolling in the area boarded the abandoned panga and discovered 6,100 pounds of marijuana destined for the United States.

The drug shipment has been valued at USD 17 million, according to CBP.

The coast guard and navy teams seized the narcotics and sank the vessel as a hazard to navigation.

“Typically most of the illicit traffic in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is smuggling cocaine, but marijuana is also a major source of income for drug trafficking organizations,” Bob Blanchard, Director of Air and Marine Operations, said.

The National Air Security Operations Center—Corpus Christi is a division of Air and Marine Operations and operates the Lockheed P-3 Orion conducting counter-drug patrol missions over the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Together with the National Air Security Operations Center in Jacksonville, Florida, US CBP P-3 crews seized or disrupted 261,939 pounds of cocaine in 2018.