The Coast Guard recently offloaded approximately $115 million worth of drugs in St. Petersburg.
The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Resolute offloaded approximately 9,690 pounds of cocaine and 5,490 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $115 million, in their homeport of St. Petersburg in Central Florida.
In addition to the contraband, Resolute’s crew previously transferred five suspected smugglers ashore to face federal prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Resolute’s crew deployed to the Caribbean Sea for 38 days in support of Joint Interagency Task Force–South (JIATF-South), an interagency and international task force that conducts counter-illicit trafficking and security cooperation operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. During their patrol, the Resolute crew was strategically positioned to deny drug trafficking organizations access to maritime smuggling routes from Central and South America to prevent harmful narcotics from reaching the United States.
Early in the patrol, Resolute’s crew launched two small boat crews to pursue a go-fast vessel across 40 nautical miles of open ocean in six-foot seas. Despite the vessel’s significant horsepower, the Resolute crew worked with a Dutch aircraft to disrupt the go-fast vessel, forcing the smugglers to jettison their illicit contraband. Two weeks later, the Resolute crew located a suspicious sailing vessel traveling through the central Caribbean. During the late-night boarding, Resolute’s law enforcement boarding team discovered nearly 1,653 pounds of cocaine in a hidden compartment. The boarding team seized the contraband and detained the suspected smugglers onboard. The crew’s efforts in both cases prevented an estimated $58.1 million worth of contraband from reaching the United States.
“Time and time again, the crew demonstrated their professionalism, cohesion and excellence in mission execution,” said Cmdr. Ian Starr, commanding officer of Resolute. “I am so incredibly proud of their efforts and their ability to achieve success in conditions where success is never guaranteed.”
As part of the international partnerships under JIATF-South, the Resolute crew worked with the Royal Netherlands Navy ship HNLMS Holland and their embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 102 from Tactical Law Enforcement Team Pacific to transfer custody of seized contraband and suspected smugglers for future prosecution in the United States. Holland’s crew transferred more than 5,000 pounds of marijuana and 4,409 pounds of cocaine to Resolute, promoting diplomatic relations through the shared efforts to stem the flow of illegal narcotics through the Caribbean joint operating area.
In support of Homeland Security Task Force-Southeast and Operation Vigilant Sentry, Resolute’s crew also worked with the crews of Coast Guard cutters William Trump and Reliance to interdict an overloaded and unseaworthy vessel with 181 migrants off the coast of Haiti. Resolute’s crew worked throughout the night to safely transport Haitian migrants to Coast Guard Cutter Reliance, allowing the crew to provide timely shelter and care to dozens of men, women and children.
Resolute also conducted flight operations with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami, successfully completing their Aviation Standardization Inspection. During the assessment, Resolute completed 30 helicopter evolutions including in-flight refueling, vertical replenishment and shipboard launch and recovery operations to enhance mission readiness.
The Resolute crew was permitted to return home early to reunite with their families following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, but almost as soon as they arrived, they went back underway again for storm avoidance before Hurricane Milton made landfall on the west coast of Florida. The Resolute crew provided offshore search and rescue support to Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg in the wake of Hurricane Milton, along with Coast Guard Cutter Thetis and Coast Guard Cutter Pablo Valent.
The fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean requires a unity of effort in all phases, from detection and monitoring to interdiction and apprehension, through criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. attorneys’ offices in districts across the nation. Joint Interagency Task Force–South in Key West, Florida conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. The law enforcement phase of operations in the Caribbean is conducted under the authority of the Seventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami, and cases in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are conducted under the authority of the Eleventh Coast Guard District headquartered in Alameda, California. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.
These interdictions relate to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiatives and designated investigations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Resolute is a 210-foot, Reliance-class medium endurance cutter homeported in St. Petersburg. The cutter’s primary missions are counter drug operations, migrant interdiction, enforcement of federal fishery laws, and search and rescue in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere. Resolute is under the command of U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area based in Portsmouth, Virginia. U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area oversees all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf.
