FRC Forrest Rednour returns to homeport following 1st drug bust

San Pedro-based fast response cutter (FRC) returned to its homeport on December 8 following a two-week patrol that included the ship’s first drug bust, the US Coast Guard said. 

The crew of the recently commissioned FRC Forrest Rednour interdicted approximately 1,000 pounds of marijuana from a suspected smuggling vessel on November 28 in international waters, approximately 30 miles south of the US-Mexico maritime border.

According to the USCG, a Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations Multi Enforcement Aircraft spotted a northbound 25-foot cuddy cabin boat with three people aboard just before midnight on November 27.

The Forrest Rednour crew arrived on scene, deployed their interceptor boat and stopped the suspect boat. The ship’s law enforcement team initiated a boarding of the US registered boat and discovered more than 40 bales of marijuana.

The Forrest Rednour crew transferred the marijuana and suspects to Customs and Border Protection agents at Ballast Point.

“These cutters are designed to seamlessly integrate with multiple agency partners to successfully execute an array of missions, so it was great to see it play out flawlessly so early in the ship’s time in service,” Lt. Graham Sherman, the commanding officer of the Forrest Rednour, said.

The Forrest Rednour was commissioned in San Pedro on November 8, and it is one of two new FRCs to be homeported in San Pedro. Two additional FRCs are scheduled to be homeported in San Pedro by summer 2019.

FRC’s are 154-foot multi-mission ships designed to conduct drug and migrant interdictions, ports, waterways and coastal security operations, fisheries and environmental protection patrols, national defense missions, and search and rescue.