A Coast Guard cutter that previously patrolled off the coast of Maine just hauled in 13,000 pounds of cocaine, officials said.
The 270-foot cutter Seneca and its sister ships seized a total of 200,000 pounds in Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard announced.
“Operation Pacific Viper has proven to be a crucial weapon in the fight against foreign drug traffickers and cartels in Latin America and has sent a clear message that we will disrupt, dismantle, and destroy their deadly business exploits wherever we find it,” said U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“The more than 75 million lethal doses seized during this operation will never reach our schools and neighborhoods to poison our children or tear apart American families,” Noem added. “In cutting off the flow of these deadly drugs, the Coast Guard is saving American lives and delivering on President Trump’s promise to Make America Safe Again and reestablish our maritime dominance.”
The Coast Guard said it used cutters, aircraft and tactical teams to interdict, seize and disrupt the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs from the Eastern Pacific, a primary corridor for narcotics smuggling from Central and South America.
The Seneca’s primary missions since its 1987 commissioning have included marine resources, counter-narcotics and search and rescue operations from the Gulf of Maine to the Pacific Ocean.
Along the Maine coast the recent missions have included patrolling Casco Bay and as far north as the Mount Desert Island area.
The Seneca in March 2019 was featured in a Coast Guard publicity photo towing in a disabled fishing boat 65 miles off Mount Desert.
The ship is named after the original Seneca, which was commissioned in 1908 and served as one of the first ice patrol cutters.
The first Seneca escorted Atlantic convoys during World War I and also enforced prohibition, finishing its commissioned service in 1936.
