Jacksonville-based Coast Guard busts narco sub carrying $165M in cocaine

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville-based Coast Guard crew took down a narco-submarine carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine, worth over $165 million, and apprehended four suspected drug smugglers in the Eastern Pacific. 

The drug-laden, 40-foot self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) was originally detected and monitored by maritime patrol aircraft. 

The crew launched two small boats with boarding teams and took down the submarine early in the morning. 

"There are no words to describe the feeling Valiant crew is experiencing right now,” said Cmdr. Matthew Waldron, Valiant’s Commanding Officer. “In a 24-hour period, the crew both crossed the equator and intercepted a drug-laden self-propelled semi-submersible vessel. Each in and of themselves is momentous events in any cutterman's career. Taken together, however, it is truly remarkably unprecedented This interdiction was an all-hands-on-deck evolution, and each crew member performed above and beyond the call of duty. Additionally, we could not have successfully completed this interdiction without the love and support of our families back home, many of whom evacuated from Jacksonville this week for Hurricane Dorian. To the Valiant families, a heartfelt ‘Thank You!’”

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