The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) recovered more than 1,000 pounds of illegal narcotics while transiting the Mediterranean Sea, March 21, 2015.
While conducting routine flight operations, the pilots of an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM 46) spotted a small craft acting suspiciously. They followed the small craft and observed the passengers dumping large packages into the Mediterranean Sea, which led to Normandy taking action on Saturday afternoon to recover the packages.
Normandy launched her small boat operations team and recovered 17 packages from the water. The contents were later tested and confirmed to be narcotics.
Normandy, homeported in Norfolk, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet Area of Operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.
Image: US Navy