The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Waesche offloaded more than 6,325 pounds of cocaine and more than 13,220 pounds of marijuana worth more than $166 million in San Diego on March 29.
The five interdictions occurred in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Central and South America in February and March.
“This marks Waesche’s first counter-narcotics patrol in several years and the crew did an outstanding job to work with international and inter-agency partners to successfully prevent $166 million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs from entering our country, cities and neighborhoods,” the Waesche’s commanding officer, Capt. Robert Mohr, said.
“The Coast Guard is dedicated to preventing illicit drugs from entering our country via the maritime environment,” Eleventh District Commander Rear Adm. Andrew Sugimoto said. “These transnational criminal networks will be met on the water by our vigilant service members, like the crew of the Waesche, at every turn and brought to justice by the U.S. Attorney’s office.”
The Waesche is the second Legend-class cutter of the Coast Guard and is homeported at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Calif. The cutter is 418 feet long with a top speed of 28 knots and a range of 12,000 nautical miles. It’s equipped with a flight deck and hangars capable of housing two multi-mission helicopters and outfitted with the most advanced command, control and communications equipment.