THE USS SIOUX CITY (LCS 11) HELPED SEIZE OVER $24 MILLION IN SUSPECTED COCAINE LAST MONTH.
ON APRIL 26, WHILE ON ROUTINE PATROL, A GO-FAST VESSEL (GFV) WAS SPOTTED AND SIOUX CITY WAS VECTORED IN FOR AN INTERCEPT. SIOUX CITY DEPLOYED HER HELICOPTER AND HER SMALL BOAT. ONCE ON SCENE, THE GFV WAS OBSERVED JETTISONING PACKAGES OVER THE SIDE. THE VESSEL WAS SEARCHED, ALL PACKAGES WERE RECOVERED, AND TWO SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKERS WERE DETAINED.
THE FOLLOWING DAY, A SECOND GFV WAS SPOTTED AND SIOUX CITY WAS VECTORED IN FOR ANOTHER INTERCEPT. SIOUX CITY’S EMBARKED HELICOPTER ESTABLISHED POSITIVE CONTROL OVER THE VESSEL AS PACKAGES WERE THROWN OVER THE SIDE. THREE ADDITIONAL SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKERS WERE DETAINED.
SIOUX CITY AND THE EMBARKED LEDET RECOVERED AN ESTIMATED 582 KILOGRAMS OF SUSPECTED COCAINE WORTH AN ESTIMATED $24 MILLION DOLLARS.
