SAN DIEGO, March 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. Coast Guard cutter seized a record volume of cocaine off Latin America before ending its patrol Tuesday.
The crew of the cutter Midgett unloaded the 29,000-pound haul collected in three stops on the high seas off Central America between Feb. 21 and March 12, and set a record for the most cocaine seized by a Coast Guard cutter on a single patrol.
The bountiful voyage warranted a unit citation that was presented to the 167-member crew Tuesday by Rear Adm. Kevin Elridge, the commander of the 11th Coast Guard District.
Along with the cocaine, the Midgett turned over eight suspected smugglers arrested March 12 off the Galapagos Islands to the U.S. attorney's office. Sixteen suspects detained by the cutter during previous interdictions were handed off to federal prosecutors in Tampa earlier.
