A Coast Guard cutter that intercepted a semi-submersible craft carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine and five suspected drug smugglers returned to its home port in Alameda on Monday.
Armed members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro were seen in video footage boarding the semi-submersible as it raced through the waters off the coast of South America last month, the Coast Guard said.
The Munro, a National Security Cutter that had been on a 98-day counter-narcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, offloaded more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana in San Diego on Thursday. The drugs are worth an estimated $569 million, the Coast Guard said.
The Munro was part of a trio of cutters that were involved in 14 drug smuggling seizures off the coasts of Mexico, Central America and South America between May and July, the Coast Guard said.
It was the Munro's first deployment to the region.
The Munro crew, commanded by Capt. James Estramonte, arrived Monday morning at Coast Guard Island in Alameda.
