Coast Guard Makes Record Cocaine Seizures
POSTED: 6:23 am PDT October 21, 2005
UPDATED: 10:31 am PDT October 21, 2005
ALAMEDA -- More than $700 million worth of cocaine sat in a heavily guarded Alameda warehouse Friday, a small portion of the record 150 tons intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard this year in the eastern Pacific Ocean.The cocaine seizures marked a second straight record year for the Coast Guard patrols – many operating out of Alameda's Coast Guard Island base. Last year, the service intercepted 120 tons of cocaine in the region.The 11 1/2 tons of cocaine now stored in Alameda are from three seizures -- made off the famed Galapagos Islands in South America -- by the Alameda-based cutter Sherman."We seized 300 thousand pounds of cocaine, that's about 150 tons," said the Sherman's skipper Capt. Charley Diaz in an exclusive KTVU interview. "We shattered last year's record."Diaz attributed the dramatic rise in seizures to improved detection and interception of the small vessels that usually transport cocaine from Ecuador and Columbia to Mexico and the U.S."It's part of our homeland security policy," he said. "We are extending our borders, taking the fight (against drugs) to them."Coast Guardsman Solomon Thompson said the service is trying to keep up with the smugglers' ever-changing tactics. But the job is not easy or without extreme danger, the seizures generally made at night from small boats with armed crewmen."It becomes difficult, because they're getting smarter," Thompson said. "Which means we need to get better in locating them, finding them and stopping them...Just knowing we're out here, whether we stop them or not...It acts as a deterrent...They know you're out there."As the Sherman neared its homeport on Thursday, the men and women aboard allowed their thoughts to focus on their families and the impact their difficult and dangerous task has on the streets of the Bay Area."It's a lot, a lot of drugs," said Coast Guardsman Phil Lago. "I hope my kids are not exposed to it."Crewmate Frank Parenti added: "You hope they (their families) understand, how risky it is out here, and if we're not out here, doing this, the drugs (on the streets of the U.S.) would really be detrimental to their physical well-being and the well-being of others."
POSTED: 6:23 am PDT October 21, 2005
UPDATED: 10:31 am PDT October 21, 2005
ALAMEDA -- More than $700 million worth of cocaine sat in a heavily guarded Alameda warehouse Friday, a small portion of the record 150 tons intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard this year in the eastern Pacific Ocean.The cocaine seizures marked a second straight record year for the Coast Guard patrols – many operating out of Alameda's Coast Guard Island base. Last year, the service intercepted 120 tons of cocaine in the region.The 11 1/2 tons of cocaine now stored in Alameda are from three seizures -- made off the famed Galapagos Islands in South America -- by the Alameda-based cutter Sherman."We seized 300 thousand pounds of cocaine, that's about 150 tons," said the Sherman's skipper Capt. Charley Diaz in an exclusive KTVU interview. "We shattered last year's record."Diaz attributed the dramatic rise in seizures to improved detection and interception of the small vessels that usually transport cocaine from Ecuador and Columbia to Mexico and the U.S."It's part of our homeland security policy," he said. "We are extending our borders, taking the fight (against drugs) to them."Coast Guardsman Solomon Thompson said the service is trying to keep up with the smugglers' ever-changing tactics. But the job is not easy or without extreme danger, the seizures generally made at night from small boats with armed crewmen."It becomes difficult, because they're getting smarter," Thompson said. "Which means we need to get better in locating them, finding them and stopping them...Just knowing we're out here, whether we stop them or not...It acts as a deterrent...They know you're out there."As the Sherman neared its homeport on Thursday, the men and women aboard allowed their thoughts to focus on their families and the impact their difficult and dangerous task has on the streets of the Bay Area."It's a lot, a lot of drugs," said Coast Guardsman Phil Lago. "I hope my kids are not exposed to it."Crewmate Frank Parenti added: "You hope they (their families) understand, how risky it is out here, and if we're not out here, doing this, the drugs (on the streets of the U.S.) would really be detrimental to their physical well-being and the well-being of others."
