Coast Guard intercepts 3,100 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Mexico

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 — The Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy dumped $44.2 million worth of cocaine in San Diego on Thursday morning.

The crew of the Canadian vessel Yellowknife (HMCS-706) and a team from the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted more than 1,400 kilograms of cocaine on September 5, approximately 690 kilometers southwest of Acapulco, Mexico.

“I congratulate the entire crew of the Yellowknife on their successful patrol in the Eastern Pacific and thank them for their dedicated service,” said Captain Tim Lavier, Coast Guard District 11 Response Chief. “Deploying a Coast Guard law enforcement team aboard a Canadian Navy vessel to the Eastern Pacific is an important example of the strong relationship we have built with our Canadian partners.”

Multiple U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, work together to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, all play a role in counternarcotics operations.

“I would like to thank our crew aboard HMCS Yellowknife and our partners with the U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment team who worked together to support the interception of 3,100 pounds of cocaine,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tyson Babcock, Commanding Officer HMCS Yellowknife. “We are proud to contribute to the multinational effort to combat illicit trafficking through Operation CARRIBE, Canada’s contribution to U.S.-led enhanced counter-narcotics operations under Joint Interagency Task Force South, to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs and enhance the safety and security of North America, the Caribbean and South America.”

Combating drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific requires unified efforts in all phases, from detection, monitoring, and interdictions to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. attorneys’ offices in districts across the country. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the Eleventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, California. Interdictions, including actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

These interdictions relate to investigations designated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

HMCS Yellowknife (706) is a Kingston-class Coastal Defence Vessel and is one of 12 maritime coastal defence vessels, and is based in Esquimalt, British Columbia. She was accepted into the Royal Canadian Navy in 1997 and commissioned on 30 January 1998.

U.S. Coast Guard District 11