The one-minute video was dramatic.
It showed two small Coast Guard boats chasing a mysterious semi-submersible in the open ocean with someone yelling in Spanish for the sub to stop. Then, the helmet-mounted video footage showed a Coast Guardsman jumping onto the small sub, running up to the hatch, banging on it with his fist and getting the five suspected drug smugglers to surrender.
The June 18 video went viral. Now a new video includes interviews with key Coast Guard personnel and explains how the arrest went down.
The semi-submersible contained 17,000 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of 232 million dollars. It was part of a three-month effort by three U.S. Coast Guard cutters to intercept drug smugglers. The total haul was an estimated 569 million dollars in confiscated drugs.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro, along with support staff, were recently selected and honored as the 2019 Coast Guard Foundation national award recipients.
