U.S. Coast Guard ship offloads $275 million of cocaine days after crew member lost at sea

A U.S. Coast Guard ship that lost a crew member while operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean offloaded over 37,000 pounds of cocaine on Thursday, officials said. 

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche had been stationed in the Eastern Pacific Ocean from December through February to intercept suspected drug smuggling vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central America and South America. “Significant narcotics trafficking” occurs in the area, the Coast Guard said. 

The ship made 11 such interceptions during the two months it was stationed, resulting in the massive drug haul. The Coast Guard said in a news release that the cocaine had an estimated value of more than $275 million. 

“The Waesche crew faced numerous challenges during this patrol, overcoming the hardest adversities and still had 11 successful drug interdictions,” said Capt. Tyson Scofield, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche, in a news release announcing the haul. “Their dedication, strength of character, and resilience ensured the success of our mission, preventing over $275 million worth of illicit narcotics from reaching the United States and protecting our communities from the devastating effects of transnational crime.” 

While operating, a crew member identified by the Coast Guard as Seaman Bryan K. Lee was reported as unaccounted for on Tuesday, Feb. 4, the week before the ship arrived in San Diego. The Waesche crew and other responding assets, including multiple Air Force aircraft, two Mexican navy vessels and an unmanned drone, searched more than 19,000 square nautical miles for a combined nearly 190 hours before the the search was suspended on Saturday, Feb. 8. 

The cutter had been conducting a “routine counter-drug patrol” about 300 nautical miles south of Mexico when Lee was reported missing, the Coast Guard said in a news release. It deviated from the patrol to search for Lee. 

The counter-drug patrols are part of a multiagency effort to combat organized crime and drug trafficking, the Coast Guard said. Stopping the movement of drugs through the Eastern Pacific Ocean “requires unity of effort in all phases, from detection, monitoring and interdictions to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation,” the Coast Guard said.