Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Whitehorse and Nanaimo returned to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, B.C., after a deployment on Operation Caribbe.
The combined efforts of Whitehorse and Nanaimo during this operation aided the United States Coast Guard (USCG) in the interception of more than 5,800 kg of cocaine, while providing a deterring presence in the international waters of the region.
Whitehorse, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, and in support of the USCG, assisted with the seizure of more than 5,200 kg of cocaine off the coast of Costa Rica as part of Operation Caribbe in early March. In late March, Whitehorse, under the direction of U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South, actively assisted USCG Cutter Boutwell in the interception of a vessel of interest. Once on scene, crew members from Boutwell retrieved 15 bales of cocaine, weighing more than 600 kg, from the water surrounding the vessel.
Nanaimo, after being directed to search an area off the coast of Guatemala for suspicious activity on March 10, 2015, discovered 50 floating one kg packets of cocaine over several miles of ocean.
Whitehorse and Nanaimo deployed on Operation Caribbe for five weeks from February 23 to April 7, 2015. The ships also deployed together for five weeks from February 19 to May 28, 2014.
Operation Caribbe is Canada’s contribution to the multinational campaign against illicit trafficking in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and its approaches, and the eastern Pacific off the coasts of Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Ecuador.
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Image: Canadian Navy