Canadian ship involved in massive cocaine bust in international waters

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Royal Canadian Navy vessel was involved in an international anti-drug trafficking mission that led to the seizure of more than 14 tonnes of cocaine in international waters along the coasts of Central and South America.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that the drugs were seized in 17 different raids over a period of 26 days. “When smugglers are racing across the Caribbean or the Pacific, they are not just carrying cocaine, they are delivering violence, corruption and instability to a part of the world — the Western Hemisphere — that just can’t absorb it,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Mark Feder said. “(It’s) a part of the world that already has eight of the 10 most homicidal nations in it,” he said.

HMCS Saskatoon, based at CFB Esquimalt in British Columbia, and a U.S. vessel — Guard LEDET 405 — were involved in one of the raids where about a tonne of cocaine was seized. The Canadian vessel joined the U.S.-lead multinational operation in February, which is aimed at intercepting illicit trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacfic Ocean.