U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine agents aboard a P-3 Orion aircraft assisted in the interdiction and seizure of more than 679 pounds of cocaine on Oct. 25. The estimated street value of the narcotics is $9,240,000.
The P-3 aircraft patrolling during the operation are based at OAM’s National Air Security Operations Center locations in Corpus Christi, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida.
The aircrew alerted Nicaraguan authorities to intercept a suspicious go-fast vessel in the Caribbean Sea south of Corn Island. Nicaraguan law enforcement seized 11 bales of contraband and 8 additional bales are believed to have been thrown overboard. Authorities arrested three suspects while recovering two AK-47 rifles onboard.
Under the international counter illicit trafficking initiative called Operation MARTILLO, U.S. military and law enforcement agencies and regional partner nations’ military and law enforcement agencies patrol the air and sea environments in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Pacific on a year-round basis in an effort to detect, monitor and interdict illicit traffickers.
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Press release, Image: USCG