U.S. Coast Guard seizes 11 tons of cocaine

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KFMB) - Eleven tons of cocaine were seized by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The cache was unloaded in San Diego on Wednesday, and is valued at an estimated $300 million. The Coast Guard seized the drugs from late August to mid-September.  During that time, eight suspected smuggling vessels in the Pacific Ocean were checked.

“That’s where the smugglers are most vulnerable, out at sea, right?” said Captain Craig Wieschhorster. “Once this stuff reaches land -- whether it’s in Central America or the United States -- it gets broken down in smaller loads, and it’s hard to trace.”

The vessels smuggling drugs were discovered off the coast of Mexico, Central and South America.