The Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast, based in Astoria, Oregon, has returned home after a 10,000 mile, 49-day counter-narcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean with over 2,400 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $33 million. The Coast Guard also brought three suspected drug traffickers who were detained during the interdiction from a single suspect vessel.
The Steadfast was serving as a law enforcement asset in support of U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force South and Coast Guard District 11, with a focus on drug and migrant interdiction, search and rescue and international relations.
They were joined by Coasties from other Coast Guard units, including the USCGC Waesche, Maritime Safety and Security Teams LA/LB and San Francisco, Sector Field Office Southwest Maine, and Coast Guard headquarter, plus the Coast Guard Cutter Active.
The Steadfast is a 53-year-old Reliance Class 210-foot medium endurance cutter that has been homeported in Astoria since 1994. Its primary missions have been search & rescue, counter-drug, migration interdiction and homeland security operations.
