Coast Guard Seizes 3.4 Tons Of Cocaine

HOUSTON ― The Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless invited the media to their homecoming in Galveston Friday afternoon. The crew of the Galveston-based cutter worked with other Coast Guard cutters and the Royal Canadian Navy to collectively interdict 26.5 tons of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific ocean, worth an estimated $715 million value at wholesale.

WHO:
The commanding officer, Cmdr. Charles F. Kuebler; the executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Payne; and the operations officer, Lt. Morgan Fowler, will be available for interview.

WHAT:
Homecoming of the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless after a 66-day counter-narcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean after their first ever transit through the Panama Canal. Wounded Heroes of Texas will welcome the crew and provide Christmas gifts to the crew and their families.

WHEN:
Friday, Dec. 16, at 3:00 pm.

WHERE:
Sector Field Office Galveston
3000 Fort Point Rd.
Galveston, TX 77553

All of the cocaine was offloaded from the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton in Port Everglades, Florida, Thursday.

Operation Martillo is an international interagency counter-illicit trafficking effort focused on sharing information and bringing together air, land and maritime assets from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and Western Hemisphere International Partner nations and agencies to counter illicit trafficking.

Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter, is stationed in Galveston at Sector Field Office Galveston.