ALAMEDA, California (Reuters) -- The U.S. Coast Guard unloaded nearly 20 tons of cocaine with a retail street value of $600 million at a California port Monday following what they called the largest drug bust at sea. The armed Coast Guard Cutter Sherman made the bust March 17 when it stopped the Panamanian cargo ship Gatun about 20 miles off a Panamanian island. On Monday, dozens of Coast Guard officials under heavy armed protection hauled bales of tightly wrapped packs of cocaine onto a pier at the service's West Coast command center near Oakland, California.
"It was the largest bust in U.S. history. It's the largest interdiction on the ocean," Lt. Brock Eckel, one of the officers from the Sherman who discovered the illegal drugs, said in an interview. "It was very exciting, of course. Fifteen guys moved 20 tons of contraband in five hours, so it was very exhausting." Coast Guard Petty Officer Keith Alholm estimated the U.S. street value of the record bust at $300 million wholesale, $600 million retail.
The find aboard the Gatun, which was heading from Panama to Mexico in the Pacific Ocean, came late at night following a tip from an intelligence source, officials said. The cargo ship's 14 crew members were Panamanians and Mexicans, who acted nervously but were not armed and offered no resistance when stopped, according to Coast Guard officials who were present during the inspection. The cargo ship also carried tiles and sand.
"If you try to fight with the U.S. Coast Guard, you come out on the losing end. It would be futile," said Charles DeMore, head of the San Francisco office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Panamanians were handed over to Panama while the Mexicans were taken into U.S. custody, Eckel said. The drugs would be transferred to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for eventual incineration.
The Coast Guard ship had experienced mechanical difficulties during its mission and was running so low on water that the crew had stopped showering by the time of the March 17 raid, officials said. "At the end of the day there is nothing like a good drug bust to lift everyone's spirit," said the ship's captain, Charlie Diaz. "We were, of course, elated."
"OK, Jose, now that they are all preoccupied with bragging about the sacrificial 20-ton pittance we put out there, let's get the big load delivered."
The Alameda, California-based crew also made two smaller drug interdictions during their 101-day patrol at sea, officials said.