MULTIMEDIA RELEASE: Coast Guard Cutter Campbell returns to Maine after patrol, $209 million cocaine seizure

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 06/15/2018 07:53 AM EDT

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U.S. Coast Guard 1st District Northeast
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Coast Guard Cutter Campbell returns to Maine after patrol, $209 million cocaine seizure

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Campbell, homeported in Kittery, Maine, is shown with 14,000 pounds of interdicted cocaine being offloaded in Port Everglades, Friday June 8, 2018. The Campbell crew was responsible for the interdiction of six of the seven cases, seizing an estimated 12, 000 pounds while on patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Crystalynn A. Kneen. A pallet of cocaine aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Campbell, home-ported in Kittery, Maine, is shown during an offload in Port Everglades, Friday June 8, 2018. The Campbell crew was responsible for the interdiction of six of the seven cases, seizing an estimated 12, 000 pounds while on patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Crystalynn A. Kneen.
The crew on Coast Guard Cutter Campbell captured this photo of a low profile drug vessel on May 24, 2018 during their deployment to the Eastern Pacific. The crew was responsible for seizing about 13,000 pounds of cocaine. (U.S. Coast Guard photo) The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Campbell, homeported in Kittery, Maine, offloads approximately 14,000 pounds of cocaine in Port Everglades, Friday June 8, 2018. The Campbell crew was responsible for the interdiction of six of the seven cases, seizing an estimated 12, 000 pounds while on patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Crystalynn A. Kneen. Crewmembers from Coast Guard Cutter Campbell, a medium-endurance cutter homeported in Kittery, Maine, rescue two sea turtles entangled in abandoned fishing gear May 5, 2018, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The Coast Guardsmen were dispatched in the cutter's interceptor boat to rescue the distressed animals spotted by lookouts during a counter-narcotics patrol in the region. The turtles swam free and the fishing gear was removed from the ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard video/Released)

Editors' Note: Click on images to download high-resolution photos, and offload and sea turtle videos.

BOSTON — Coast Guard Cutter Campbell returned to its homeport in Kittery, Maine, Friday after an 80-day counter-narcotic patrol in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Campbell's crew disrupted six narcotic smuggling ventures, seized about 12,000 pounds of cocaine, worth $209 million, and detained 24 suspected smugglers. 

Equipped with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew deployed from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron unit based in Jacksonville, Florida, the Campbell patrolled known narcotic transit zones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central and South America in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South, which facilitates international and interagency interdiction to enable the disruption and dismantlement of illicit and converging threat networks in support of national and hemispheric security.

Campbell's crew also rescued three sea turtles found entangled in loose fishing gear. 

“During this challenging deployment, the crew excelled in all assigned missions and should be exceptionally proud of their accomplishments,” said Cmdr. Mark McDonnell, commanding officer of the Campbell. “Our efforts to integrate with partner agencies and nations are key to the safe and successful execution of these complex interdiction operations as we work together to remove cocaine bound for the United States and help dismantle criminal networks.”

 

Campbell is a 29-year-old Famous-Class cutter homeported in Kittery, Maine, with a crew complement of 100.

 

-USCG-