HMCS Yellowknife crews from Esquimalt assist in seizure of $44.2 million worth of cocaine outside Mexico

Crews aboard the HMCS Yellowknife, a Royal Canadian Navy coastal defence vessel based in Vancouver Island, helped unload $44.2 million worth of cocaine earlier this month, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

It says the HMCS-706 crew of Esquimalt was there to “combat transnational organized crime” and on September 5 intercepted more than 1,400 kilograms, or 3,100 pounds, of drugs in waters about 700 kilometers southwest of Acapulco, Mexico.

A week later, on September 12, the cocaine was delivered in San Diego, California.

The U.S. Coast Guard led the large-scale seizure, including the actual boarding, and often works with international agencies such as the Canadian Navy to carry out such missions.

Captain Tim Lavier, Coast Guard District 11 Response Chief, congratulated Yellowknife personnel “for their successful patrol” in the eastern Pacific.

“The deployment of a Coast Guard law enforcement team aboard a Canadian Navy vessel in the Eastern Pacific is an important example of the strong relationship we have built with our Canadian partners,” Lavier added in a press release last week.

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Multiple U.S. agencies, including Homeland Security and the Departments of Defense and Justice, work together to combat such crimes, while the Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies “all play a role in the fight against drugs,” the press release said.

“The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific requires unity of effort at all stages, from detection, monitoring and interceptions to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. attorneys’ offices in districts across the country.”

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, such interceptions are related to the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, which use a multi-agency approach to identify, disrupt and dismantle “high-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States.”

Lieutenant Commander Tyson Babcock of HMCS Yellowknife thanks the crew, including partners from the US law enforcement team, while praising their ability to work together.

“We are proud to contribute to the multinational effort to tackle illicit trafficking through Operation CARRIBE, Canada’s contribution to the U.S.-led enhanced counter-drug operations under Joint Interagency Task Force South,” Babcock said.

He adds that the crews help “stop the flow of illicit drugs and improve the safety and security of North America, the Caribbean and South America.”

The Canadian government says the HMCS Yellowknife, a Kingston-class ship, can accommodate up to 37 crew members and is one of 12 maritime coastal defence vessels.

The ship was designed by Halifax Shipyards and was intended for coastal patrol, minesweeping, law enforcement, pollution control and search and rescue. In 1997, the ship was accepted into the Canadian Navy and commissioned in 1998.