This video was captured by US coast personnel and these are drug trafficking boats that were recently intercepted and prevented from making it to American shores. Authorities say they stopped the traffickers in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, arresting dozens of suspects who are now awaiting federal prosecution. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00This video was captured by U.S. Coast Guard personnel, and these are drug trafficking
00:03boats that were recently intercepted and prevented from making it to American shores.
00:08Authorities say they stopped 11 of them in the eastern Pacific Ocean,
00:12arresting some 34 suspects who are now awaiting federal prosecution.
00:15All in all, the Coast Guard was able to prevent 44,550 pounds of cocaine and 3,880 pounds of
00:23marijuana from entering the U.S. In a statement, the Coast Guard said that these individuals all
00:28had ties to transnational criminal and foreign terrorist organizations. The series of intercepts
00:33occurred between January and February this year, involving both helicopter and high-speed boat
00:37engagements. You can see here these suspected drug runners are throwing their products into the ocean
00:42in an attempt to avoid arrest. Coast Guard officials say that all of the dumped cargo was later identified
00:47and picked up by authorities. Commanding officer of the U.S. CGC James, Captain Thomas Rotswitz says
00:53that some 24,000 pounds of cocaine was intercepted over a 72-hour window. Adding, quote,
00:59we delivered a substantial blow to narco-terrorism organizations, sending those attempting to bring
01:04drugs to our border to face federal prosecution, halting the profits criminals used to fuel the
01:09fentanyl trade, and most importantly, preventing deadly contraband from reaching American communities
01:14and families.