a coast guard officer assigned to the cutter sherman stands guard over 11.

5
tons of cocaine prior to a press conference there. the coast guard cutter
hamilton seized the drugs over three different seizures in the eastern pacific
and then transferred the drugs to cgc sherman for taxi to alameda where the
process of destroying the cocaine began. uscg photo by petty officer brian
n. leshak

$9.5 billion in coke seizures for 2005

just last fall, the u.s. coast guard unloaded approximately 11.5 tons of cocaine
worth about $750 million after interdicting the narcotics at sea.

this seizure marked the final act of the coast guard�s second straight record-
breaking year for drug interdictions.

the interdiction was the result of close coordination between joint interagency
task force south, u.s. attorney�s office, panama express south, dea, fbi, bureau
of immigration and customs enforcement, customs and border protection, u.s. coast
guard, u.s. navy, and the departments of justice, state and homeland security.

the coast guard seized approximately 150 tons of cocaine during the 2005
federal fiscal year beginning october 1, 2004, and ending on september 30, 2005,
which shattered the previous record of 120 tons established during the 2004 fiscal
year.

the street value of the cocaine seized this year is estimated at about $9.5
billion.

these figures include about 93 tons of cocaine seizures, roughly sixty-two

percent of the total, from the eastern pacific ocean along the coast of central
and south america, as well as those conducted in the caribbean sea, gulf of mexico
and along the u.s. atlantic coast.

the coast guard was also one of the big heroes during katrina, which devastated
large portions of the gulf states. in new orleans alone, some say members of the
coast guard rescued over 50,000 people who were stranded in the water or on roof
tops, bringing them to a safe place where they could be evacuated.