Royal Canadian Navy’s Kingston-class patrol vessel HMCS Saskatoon wrapped up a two-month deployment returning to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt on April 28.
The ship spent the two months deployed to operation Caribbe, Canada’s contribution to the multinational campaign against transnational criminal organizations in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
In only one month during the operation, the ship seized a total of 1,124 kg of cocaine on March 12 and April 6 and subsequently disrupted an estimated 1,500 kg of cocaine on April 13 and 14 while working with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and embedded law enforcement detachments in the international waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
“I am very proud to welcome home the sailors of HMCS Saskatoon today after another highly successful deployment on operation Caribbe,” said Commodore Jeff Zwick , Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific. “Their outstanding work has directly contributed to international safety and security by keeping these drugs off our streets and preventing criminal organizations from profiting off their sale.”
This deployment marked the 11th year that the Canadian Armed Forces have worked with Western Hemisphere and European partners to address security challenges in the region and successfully disrupt illicit trafficking operations.