Coast Guard achieves major milestone in drug interdiction, border control operations

united states coast guard 

 News Release  

U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
Contact: Headquarters Public Affairs
Office: (202) 372-4630
mediarelations@uscg.mil
Headquarters online newsroom

 

03/18/2025 09:34 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard achieved a major milestone this week, interdicting over 80,000 pounds of illicit drugs since Jan. 21, being smuggled by drug cartels in an attempt to reach the U.S.
The Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 50 work together to intercept a self-propelled semi-submersible drug smuggling vessel (SPSS), in the Atlantic Ocean, March 22, 2024. Leyte Gulf is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command area of operations, employed by U.S. Fourth Fleet to support joint and combined military operations, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and the Atlantic.