July 2, 2015 – Two Guyanese and three Jamaican smugglers were caught aboard a Guyanese shipping vessel with 215 pounds of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea.
While on a routine patrol the afternoon of July 2, 2015, the crew of the Dauntless, a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, detected a suspicious fishing vessel named Chrispoph, approximately 170 miles south of the Dominican Republic, with five people and possible contraband on board. The Coast Guard contacted the Guyanese government, which confirmed the vessel’s Guyanese registry and authorized the Coast Guard to stop, board, and search the vessel.
The Dauntless boarding team proceeded to board the Chrispoph, and during a preliminary search of the fishing vessel, located five bales carrying 98 packages of suspected contraband. While still on board the fishing vessel, the boarding team received information from the master and confirmed that the vessel was taking on water due to a broken shaft seal.
For the safety of life at sea, the Dauntless embarked the suspected smugglers and contraband, which later tested positive for cocaine. Despite the Dauntless crew’s efforts to run multiple pumps to keep water out of the fishing vessel, uncontrollable flooding caused the vessel to sink.
Dauntless transferred the cocaine and suspected smugglers to the William Trump for transport to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they were taken into custody by special agents from the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force.
