SBR Recovers More Than One Ton of Cocaine

USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), with embarked Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 60 (HSL-60) Detachment 2, "Smooth Operators," and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 402 recovered 41 bales of cocaine floating on the surface of the water after pursuing a go-fast vessel into Panamanian territorial waters.

The coordinated actions of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) were instrumental to the successful recovery of the narcotics.

Sailors aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) load bales of cocaine aboard a pallet for transfer off the ship Dec. 12, 2008. More than 11 metric tons of cocaine were offloaded from the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) and turned over to federal law enforcement personnel. The offload consisted of cocaine seized by various Coast Guard and Navy units from separate cases in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Coast Guard photo/ PA2 Bobby Nash. PA2 BOBBY NASH

USS Samuel B. Roberts, homeported in Mayport, Fla., is currently deployed to the Eastern Pacific under the operational control of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO) and U.S. 4th Fleet, conducting counter illicit trafficking operations in support of JIATF-South, U.S. Law Enforcement and participating nations' drug control policy.

NAVSO, the Navy component command of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), oversees maritime operations throughout Latin America, including exercises and deployments, counter-illicit trafficking support, and Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) events. U.S. 4th Fleet is the numbered fleet assigned to NAVSO exercising operational control of U.S. Navy units temporally operating in the SOUTHCOM area of focus, which encompasses the Caribbean, Central and South America and surrounding waters.

Navy personnel offload 498 bales of seized cocaine in Mayport, Fla, Dec. 12, 2008, which was interdicted by Navy and Coast Guard personnel in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Coast Guard photo/ PA3 Michael Hulme. Petty Officer Michael Hulme

Drugs seized by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard are on the fantail of the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) before being offloaded by law enforcement officials. More than 13 metric tons of drugs worth more than $220 million were interdicted by several different units and collected onboard the ship for transport back to the United States. Samuel B. Roberts and embarked Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 60 (HSL-60) Detachment 2 are deployed under operational control of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet based in Mayport, Fla. conducting counter illicit trafficking operations in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South in the U.S. Southern Command area of focus. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Leah Stiles/Released) MC1 Leah Stiles