Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships Goose Bay and Shawinigan, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and in support of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), assisted in seizing more than 1000 kg of cocaine while patrolling in the Caribbean Sea, as part of Operation CARIBBE, on March 1, 2015.
Following the initial search of a suspect vessel by a boarding team from United States Ship (USS) Kauffman, HMCS Goose Bay was tasked to conduct an additional inspection. A subsequent boarding and search of the suspect vessel by the USCG Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) embarked with HMCS Goose Bay, supported by HMCS Shawinigan, resulted in the seizure of 1017 kg of cocaine.
Crewmembers onboard the suspect vessel, along with the seized shipment, were taken into custody onboard USS Kauffman. The entire operation lasted more than 36 hours.
This marks the first narcotics interception in 2015 for Royal Canadian Navy assets deployed on Operation CARIBBE. On February 2, a deployed CP-140 assisted the U.S. Coast Guard in the seizure of approximately 530 kg of cocaine off the west coast of Guatemala.
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Image: Canadian Joint Operations Command