After a three-month patrol the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Waesche offloaded $275 million worth of cocaine, confiscated during smuggling interdictions off Mexico and Central and South America on Feb. 13 in San Diego.
“The Waesche crew faced numerous challenges during this patrol, overcoming the hardest adversities and still had 11 successful drug interdictions,” said Capt. Tyson Scofield, commanding officer of the cutter. “Their dedication, strength of character, and resilience ensured the success of our mission, preventing over $275 million worth of illicit narcotics from reaching the United States and protecting our communities from the devastating effects of transnational crime.”
The Waschese patrol was marked by tragedy with the loss of Seaman Bryan K. Lee, a 23-year-old crew member who was reported missing on the morning of Feb. 4 while the vessel was operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The search was called off Saturday, Feb. 8, after covering more than 19,000 square nautical miles over 190 hours without success.
Lee, from Rancho Cordova, Calif., was discovered unaccounted for at 6:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday while the 418’x54’ Waesche was conducting the routine counter-drug patrol approximately 300 nautical miles south of Mexico. The cutter immediately diverted from its patrol to begin search operations over four days.
The Waesche is one of four Legend-class national security cutters homeported at Alameda, Calif., where the 11th Coast Guard District headquarters coordinates counter-smuggling operations with the U.S. Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
