That $20 million in cocaine offloaded by the Coast Guard? The drugs didn’t get very far

Howard Cohen
·2 min read

The Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley crew and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agents offloaded about 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine at Coast Guard Base San Juan on Monday.

The blow didn’t get very far.

A team of law enforcement officials found the drugs aboard a go-fast vessel in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico on March 30.

According to the Coast Guard, the seized coke has an estimated wholesale value of about $20 million.

A Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley crewmember helps offload approximately 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine, valued at $20 million, at Coast Guard Base San Juan on April 4, 2022, following the interdiction of a go-fast vessel March 30, 2022 in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico.
A Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley crewmember helps offload approximately 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine, valued at $20 million, at Coast Guard Base San Juan on April 4, 2022, following the interdiction of a go-fast vessel March 30, 2022 in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico.

The offload comes two days after another U.S. Coast Guard crew offloaded more than $160 million worth of cocaine at its base in Miami Beach after a 45-day patrol in the Caribbean. That capture seized about 8,500 pounds of the powder and the detaining of 13 suspected drug smugglers from the Dominican Republic and Colombia, according to the Coast Guard.

$20 million worth of cocaine found on a boat is now in the hands of the U.S.

In the latest incident, the crew of a Customs and Border Protection multi-mission enforcement aircraft on a routine patrol spotted a 35-foot go-fast boat in waters near Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan were alerted and sent out the 154-foot fast response cutter, Donald Horsley, out of its San Juan port.

The crew interdicted the speedy boat, which was carrying two men, Dominican Republic nationals, “and multiple bales of suspected contraband” that the Coast Guard said tested positive for cocaine.

The men were taken into custody and the 33 bales of cocaine were seized.

A Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley crew member helps offload about 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine, valued at $20 million, at Coast Guard Base San Juan on April 4, 2022.
A Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley crew member helps offload about 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine, valued at $20 million, at Coast Guard Base San Juan on April 4, 2022.

“This case highlights the Coast Guard’s unwavering resolve and that of our fellow partners to interdict drug smuggling vessels at sea and safeguard the nation’s southernmost maritime border,” Capt. Gregory H. Magee, Sector San Juan commander, said in a statement. “These partnerships are key to achieving to protecting our citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from drug trafficking and other smuggling threats in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agents took custody of the two men and the coke and are leading the investigation.

Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley’s crew offloaded approximately 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine, valued at $20 million, at Coast Guard Base San Juan on April 4, 2022, following the interdiction of a go-fast vessel March 30, 2022 in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico.
Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley’s crew offloaded approximately 1,000 kilograms of seized cocaine, valued at $20 million, at Coast Guard Base San Juan on April 4, 2022, following the interdiction of a go-fast vessel March 30, 2022 in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico.