05 October 1999


 
Record Amount of Cocaine Seized by U.S. Coast Guard
 
(Seizures increased 35 percent from previous year)  (470)
By Eric Green
Department of State Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A record amount of cocaine was seized in fiscal year
1999, the U.S. Coast Guard has announced.

In an October 4 statement issued from its Miami district office, the
Coast Guard said 111,689 pounds (nearly 50,800 kgs) were seized in the
1999 fiscal year, representing a 35-percent increase over 1998, when
the Coast Guard seized 82,623 pounds (36,980 kgs) of cocaine. The
previous record was set in 1997 when the Coast Guard seized over
103,000 pounds (46,350 kgs) of cocaine.

More than 65 percent of the cocaine seized in 1999 was within the
Seventh Coast Guard District's area of operation, which includes South
Carolina, Georgia, most of Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and most of the Caribbean. The 1999 fiscal year ended on
September 30.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater, whose agency has
jurisdiction over the Coast Guard, said the record seizures for 1999
-- equal to 506 million doses kept off America's streets --
"demonstrate that an innovative strategy, backed by aggressive action
and adequate funding, will produce results. This is a commitment to
safety and security of which the administration, Congress and the
American people can be proud."

Slater said the Coast Guard's anti-cocaine effort is part of the
maritime component of President Clinton's National Drug Control
Strategy, which focuses on supply-side reduction and complements the
administration's domestic demand-reduction efforts. Slater said the
$3,900 million street value of the cocaine seizures represents a
substantial return on the nation's total $4,400 million investment in
the Coast Guard's annual budget.

The Coast Guard said the year also marked a successful new Caribbean
counter-narcotics initiative called "Operation New Frontier." Under
this plan, the Coast Guard used armed helicopters to stop small
high-speed smuggling vessels carrying narcotics bound for the United
States. The helicopter crews deployed non-lethal weapons to stop the
fleeing boats, known as "Go-Fasts." The test and evaluation of the
program was secretly conducted during the last 10 months, in which
over 6,600 pounds (2,970 kgs) of narcotics were confiscated.

Starting off the 2000 fiscal year, the Seventh Coast Guard District
has already seized 5,600 pounds (2,520 kgs) of marijuana. A Coast
Guard cutter recovered 70 bales of marijuana floating 20 miles (32
kilometers) south of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, October 1.

In other news involving the Coast Guard, 19 Cuban migrants were
repatriated October 4 to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba, the Guard said.

The Guard said it intercepted a Go-Fast boat carrying 21 migrants and
three suspected smugglers. Two migrants were taken to Guantanamo Bay,
and the rest returned to Cuba. The smugglers will be processed for
prosecution, the Guard said.