US Coast Guard
- Navy destroyer Michael Murphy and Coast Guard cutter Midgett teamed up to bust 2,100 pounds of cocaine in the eastern Pacific Ocean in July.
- The Coast Guard has been hauling in record amounts of cocaine, and this was likely the first of many such busts for the Midgett.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
In July, yet-to-be-commissioned Coast Guard cutter Midgett passed through the Panama Canal and started a roughly 5,000-mile trip to Honolulu.
The Coast Guard accepted the Midgett in April, and it didn’t leave the Mississippi shipyard where it was built until June 11. But the newest national-security cutter was ready as it transited the eastern Pacific, and with good reason — the ship helped intercept more than 2,100 pounds of cocaine before it even made it to its home port.
On July 25, a MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the US Navy destroyer Michael Murphy spotted a low-profile go-fast boat — a kind of vessel often called a "narco sub."
Some 80% of the cocaine smuggled to North America comes through the eastern Pacific, often in narco subs — sometimes true submarines or semi-submersibles, but usually low-profile vessels, of which the service has seen a recent resurgence.
As the helicopter approached, a hatch on top of the go-fast boat opened, and, the Navy said, three passengers began tossing objects in the water. The destroyer’s interceptor boat, guided by the helicopter, picked up the objects and pulled alongside, telling the suspects to remain in sight.
The Murphy remained beside the go-fast boat while the the Midgett hurried to the scene, a trip that took five to six hours, according to Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Brickey.
US Navy/Command Master Chief Jose Ramiro
The Coast Guard has law-enforcement authority to conduct a boarding, granted under title 14 US Code § 89, Brickey said in an email. Unlike the Navy, the Coast Guard is exempt from Posse Comitatus.
US Coast Guard
The expansion of the drug war and with it the Coast Guard’s authority to detain suspected smugglers has raised concerns about legal procedure and due process.
Coast Guard crews coordinate with countries in the region to resolve jurisdictional issues regarding suspected smuggling vessels and people aboard them, but the service has faced criticism for holding detainees in international waters for weeks or months — a former Coast Guard lawyer described the cutters holding detainees as "floating Guantanamos."
In a December 2017 interview, then-Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft defended the service, calling that description "an unfair stab at the Coast Guard."
"We will provide them food, provide them shelter, provide them sanitation facilities. This is really a challenge of logistics," Zukunft said. "We’re spending, right now, about 30% of our at-sea patrol time doing logistics for detainees to facilitate their arrival in the United States for further prosecution, so it really is a logistics effort."
The Midgett arrived on the scene, and its crew examined the objects thrown overboard, which tested positive for cocaine. Aboard the go-fast boat, the Midgett’s boarding team found more than 2,100 pounds of the drug. The cutter’s crew also took the three suspected smugglers into custody.
US Coast Guard
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Christopher Woody)