US and Mexican navies pull 186 bales of floating marijuana from the Pacific
US and Mexican naval forces recovered 186 bales of marijuana, about 18,600 pounds, jettisoned by smugglers in the Pacific off Southern California on 16 June 2012 after a Seahawk helicopter from USS Nimitz closed in. The boat crews fled and no arrests were made; the bales went to the Coast Guard cutter Edisto.
🇺🇸 Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast · United States
On 16 June 2012 the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, working with the cruiser USS Princeton, two helicopter squadrons and the Mexican navy, retrieved 186 bales of marijuana floating in the Pacific, apparently destined for the United States.[1][2]Nimitz lookouts had spotted two small boats about four nautical miles away; when a Seahawk helicopter closed in, the boats began dumping dark bags overboard and fled east at about 25 knots.[1]Princeton sent rigid-hull inflatable boats to recover the bags, about 100 pounds each, and a Mexican naval ship helped recover the rest.[1][2]The bales were transferred to the Coast Guard cutter Edisto for transport ashore.[1][2]
Scale
At about 100 pounds a bale, the 186 bales weighed about 18,600 pounds (about 8.4 tonnes).[1]The Nimitz strike group had been conducting carrier qualifications off the California coast when the lookouts made the sighting.[1]No arrests were reported; the dumping crews fled.[1]
Photos and video
A rigid-hull inflatable boat from USS Princeton recovers a bale of marijuana.Photo details
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