By David Caraccio
The Sacramento Bee
The U.S. Coast Guard released video Thursday showing its Cutter Munro crew members boarding a self-propelled mini-submarine suspected of smuggling drugs off the Pacific Ocean.
Called “a self-propelled semi-submersible,” the vessel was stopped in international waters on June 18, 2019. In the footage, a crew member yells “Stop your boat! Now!” in Spanish before leaping onto the mini-sub and opening the hatch to find people inside the hull.
On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence visited San Diego to see the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro offload more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana, worth a combined estimated $569 million, which was seized off the Pacific in international waters.
The drugs represent 14 separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions and disruptions off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America by three Coast Guard cutters between May and July 2019, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
©2019 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)