United States Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast finished a 10,000 mile 57-day counter-narcotics patrol off the West Coast Sunday, seizing 3,905 pounds of cocaine worth $67 million.
Five vessels were boarded and eight suspected drug traffickers were taken into custody during the mission in the Eastern Pacific. The crew offloaded the seized cocaine (1.9525 Ton) Oct. 1 in San Diego.
The Steadfast returned home to Astoria Sunday after the nearly two month deployment. The crew conducted law enforcement, search-and-rescue and marine life protection operations.
While on patrol, the Steadfast helped rescue a sea turtle entangled in an abandoned drift net, responded to a rescue and provided training to tactical law enforcement units from Maritime Security Response Team-West.
Steadfast utilized an MH-65 helicopter and aircrews from Air Station North Bend which assisted in the interdiction of four “go-fast” boats suspected of running illegal drugs.
“The crew put a phenomenal amount of work into readying the cutter for this deployment and sharpening the skill sets required for counter-narcotics operations,” Cmdr. Craig Allen, Steadfast’s commanding officer said. “Their efforts paid dividends during the smooth execution of several challenging evolutions throughout the patrol. Our HITRON aircrew and TACLET member were an outstanding addition to the Steadfast team. I’m extremely proud of the crew’s accomplishments, and I’m also grateful to the Steadfast families who held down the homefront during a turbulent two months that included ongoing COVID-19 challenges and wildfires.”
The crew was tested for COVID-19 before deployment and monitored for 14 days afterward. Throughout the patrol, crew members wore N95 masks and underwent health screenings before all boardings.
Steadfast is a 52-year-old Reliance Class cutter and has been homeported in Astoria since 1994.
