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HMCS Saskatoon crew helps in cocaine seizure

The crew of HMCS Saskatoon helped retrieve 10 bales of cocaine — weighing about 360 kilograms — in a recent patrol during Operation Caribbe 2016.
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Bales of cocaine jettisoned from a suspected smuggling boat lie stacked aboard HMCS Saskatoon last week.

The crew of HMCS Saskatoon helped retrieve 10 bales of cocaine — weighing about 360 kilograms — in a recent patrol during Operation Caribbe 2016.

Saskatoon and HMCS Edmonton are taking part in the operation, which aims to combat criminal organizations in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

The maritime coastal defence vessels left CFB Esquimalt on Feb. 12.

Saskatoon helped in the drug seizure after a fishing boat that was being monitored off the coast of Central America dumped its cargo and sped off. A U.S. Coast Guard law-enforcement detachment aboard Saskatoon and a U.S. Maritime Patrol aircraft were also involved in the patrol.

Operation Caribbe is Canada’s contribution to a multinational campaign known as Operation Martillo.

CFB Esquimalt’s HMCS Brandon and HMCS Whitehorse had great success in Operation Caribbe 2015, where they worked to seize 9,800 kilograms of narcotics — more than any pair of maritime coastal defence vessels since Operation Caribbe began in 2006.