US Navy destroyer, embarked coast guard team recover illegal drugs in Caribbean

The US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Lassen and its embarked US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) personnel have recovered more than 1,500 kilograms of marijuana in an operation conducted in Caribbean waters earlier this month.

While on routine patrol approximately 24 kilometres northeast of Navassa Island, Lassen‘s embarked MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter located a 10-metre “go-fast” vessel with three suspected drug smugglers throwing packages overboard.

In a coordinated effort, a small boat crew from Lassen along with the LEDET personnel were launched to the scene to further investigate.

Upon arriving on scene, the navy and coast guard personnel recovered 65 packages of marijuana totaling more than 1,500 kilograms.

Navassa is an uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea between Haiti and Jamaica administered by the US Department of the Interior.