VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter, Vigorous, seized more than 1,200 pounds of cocaine and detained three individuals in the Atlantic Ocean.
Vigorous returned Monday from a 55-day deployment in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in support of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy.
Within a few days of leaving Virginia Beach, Vigorous interdicted a sailing vessel, seizing over a thousand pounds of cocaine.
The 80 person crew also conducted seven additional at-sea boardings, detaining nine suspected drug smugglers and preventing 26 metric tons of cocaine from reaching the U.S.
The cocaine had a wholesale value of more than $373 million.
The cutter transited more than 10,000 nautical miles in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and also rescued three survivors who they found adrift in their vessel.
