A U.S. Navy destroyer handed off 245 kilograms of illegal goods recovered by the Royal Canadian Navy to the U.S. Coast Guard on June 11, according to a Navy release.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Cole retrieved the illicit materials — approximately 539 pounds — from the Royal Canadian Navy’s Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessel William Hall on June 9 in the Caribbean Sea.
“The Reliance-class U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Vigorous (WMEC 627) accepted the contraband from the Cole’s embarked USCG Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET),” the release said.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s LEDET program, established in 1982, operates under U.S. Northern Command, enforcing the law to uphold national security, specifically through waterborne drug interdiction.
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LEDET personnel “perform vessel boardings, searches, and seizures in U.S. and international waters, targeting drug trafficking, illegal immigration, and transnational crime with a nexus to the U.S. southern border,” the release said.
Joint Interagency Task Force South, which works with partner nations to monitor and intercept the movement of illegal drug trafficking, initially detected the transportation of the contraband. The release did not specify the contents of the contraband.
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unlawful operation is underway.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has focused on funneling more military assets, including Navy ships, to the U.S. southern border to shore up security, in support of an executive order he signed on Jan. 20, titled “Protecting the American people against invasion.”
As of May, just under 8,000 active-duty troops were stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border, Defense News previously reported, up from the approximately 2,500 stationed there during the Biden administration, according to the Defense Department.
The Cole, deployed under the Navy’s 4th Fleet, left Mayport, Florida, on June 5 and headed to the U.S. southern border to replace the destroyer Gravely, which finished its U.S. Northern Command mission and headed home to Norfolk, Virginia, on June 9.
The Defense Department deployed Gravely to the region on March 15 to participate in drug interdiction missions.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
