Things sometimes do not always go better with Coke
The US Coast Guard made a big bust last March. From
Reuters UK:
U.S. unloads record bust of 20 tons of cocaine
The U.S. Coast Guard unloaded nearly 20 tons of cocaine with a retail street value of $600 million (300 million pounds) into a California port on Monday following what they called the largest drug bust ever at sea.
The armed Coast Guard cutter Sherman stopped the Panamanian cargo ship Gatun about 20 miles off a Panamanian island on March 17. On Monday dozens of Coast Guard officials under heavy armed protection hauled bales of tightly wrapped packs of cocaine onto a pier at the service's West Coast command centre near Oakland, California.
"It was the largest bust in U.S. history. It's the largest interdiction on the ocean," Lt. Brock Eckel, one of the officers from the Sherman who discovered the illegal drugs, said in an interview. "It was very exciting, of course. Fifteen guys moved 20 tons of contraband in five hours, so it was very exhausting."
The find aboard the Gatun, which was heading from Panama to Mexico in the Pacific Ocean, came late at night following a tip from an intelligence source, officials said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Keith Alholm estimated the U.S. street value of the record bust at $300 million wholesale, $600 million retail.
The cargo ship's 14 crew members were Panamanians and Mexicans, who acted nervously but were not armed and offered no resistance when stopped, Coast Guard officials present during the inspection said. The cargo ship also carried tiles and sand.
Very cool news!
Posted by DaveH at April 23, 2007 6:13 PM