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Air and Marine Operations arrest 11 smugglers, seizure around $300 million worth of narcotics

The load was one of the Corpus Christi office's largest ever seizures.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Custom and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew spoiled cocaine smugglers' best efforts from June 17-21 in South America when they contributed to the arrest of 11 smugglers and the seizure of almost $300 million worth of narcotics.

"No one can hide from us on our watch," said Director of Air and Marine Operations Bob "Thor" Blanchard. If smugglers are trying to bring drugs into the U.S., our dedicated and experienced crews will find them, and they'll go to jail."

The crew of an AMO Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft began its work by detecting a small fishing vessel loaded with 1,656 pounds of cocaine. The next day, the crew was on patrol using a radar system detected a purpose-built smuggling vessel. The Low Profile Vessel was loaded with 4,134 pounds of cocaine. 

On the last day of its trip, while heading back to the United States, the crew detected a hard to find semi-submersible vessel. That load was one of the Corpus Christi office's largest ever seizures. The 16,938-pound shipment on the vessel brought their weekly total to 22,728 pounds.

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