Roughly 9 tons of cocaine seized in international water in the eastern Pacific Ocean from mid-October to early December was offloaded Wednesday in San Diego by the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf.
The drugs, worth an estimated $312 million, were seized by five separate Coast Guard cutter crews, including the Bertholf, according to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard.
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Two cutters are homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, one is homeported in Charleston, South Carolina, one is homeported in Key West, Florida, and the Bertholf is homeported in Alameda, California.
"During at-sea interdictions, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied, military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida, according to the statement. "The interdictions, including the actual boardings are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard."
