Coast Guard drug chases can run for miles, and they don't always end how they expect

"USCG TACLET SOUTH OPA-LOCKA, Florida - When a go-fast boat loaded with drugs was on the run, elite Coast Guard troops weren't far behind. They'd been chasing this vessel for nearly 50 nautical miles through blinding rain and eight-foot waves, Lt. Matthew Lesyk, officer in charge of Law Enforcement Detachment 404, recalled for Business Insider. A Coast Guard helicopter had spotted the vessel and fired off warning shots, but the Tactical Law Enforcement Team (TACLET) giving chase could barely see anything."

""That reflects how serious and dangerous this job can be," said Morgan Fussell, an ME3, or maritime law enforcement specialist. It isn't always smooth seas. And while there's a step-by-step process for drug interdictions, things don't always go to plan. Not every drug interdiction goes smoothly. Drug runners do unexpected things, and sometimes suspected drugs turn out to be something else entirely. Coast Guard crews have to be ready to change their course of action in the moment."

"Both Lesyk and Fussell said they've mostly boarded "go-fast" vessels with some fishing boats and semi-submersibles. Beyond the latter being slippery and riding low in the water, it's also possible someone aboard could pull a scuttling valve, quickly sinking it. At Coast Guard TACLET South, headquartered just outside Miami, these specialists go out on months-long drug interdiction deployments. In preparation for the high-stakes counter-drug missions, which require boarding potentially dangerous vessels on the high seas, they go through intense training."

Coast Guard law-enforcement teams conduct high-stakes drug interdictions on the high seas and follow established boarding procedures but must adapt when conditions change. Pursuits can extend dozens of nautical miles through blinding rain and eight-foot seas, with aerial assets firing warning shots while boarding teams struggle to see. Interdictions vary by vessel type — go-fast boats, fishing boats, and semi-submersibles introduce different hazards, including the risk that crew may scuttle a submersible via a valve. Teams undergo intense training and months-long deployments to prepare for unpredictable smuggler reactions, harsh weather, and split-second tactical decisions.

Read at Business Insider