Coast Guard cutter Narwhal recovers nearly five tons of marijuana off Baja
The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Narwhal chased a go-fast boat about 100 miles south of San Diego on 16 November 2008 and recovered 137 bales weighing nearly 10,000 pounds and valued at $32 million after the smugglers jettisoned them. The smugglers escaped toward Mexico and no arrests were made.
🇲🇽 International waters off Baja California, about 100 miles south of San Diego · Mexico
The Newport Beach-based Coast Guard cutter Narwhal was patrolling international waters about 100 miles off San Diego when it picked up a speedboat on radar late on Sunday afternoon 16 November 2008.[1]The boat was heading north toward the United States and sped up at sundown; when the Narwhal ordered it to stop around 7.30pm, it fled toward Mexico with its crew throwing bales overboard.[1][2]The marijuana came in 137 steamer-trunk-sized bales weighing nearly 10,000 pounds, with an estimated street value of $32 million, in what was called one of the largest marijuana seizures in Coast Guard history.[1][3]
The Narwhal handed the chase to the Mexican Navy and spent the night and Monday morning hauling the bales from the water, then turned the drugs over to a federal narcotics task force in San Diego on Monday afternoon.[1]The smugglers got away, and the haul dwarfed another marijuana recovery the same crew had made in the area in September.[1][3]
Photos and video
Bales of marijuana recovered by the crew of the cutter Narwhal stacked after the offload on 17 November 2008. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Henry Dunphy.Photo details
Capital Guardia Municipal officers seized about 47.3 grams of marijuana abandoned in a bag in the Juan Ruiz de Alarcón park in colonia Virreyes, San Luis Potosí. The man seen allegedly consuming the drug fled and was not detained; the packaged herb was sent to the State Attorney General's Office for investigation.
Guanajuato state police say K9 dog Momo flagged 12 parcels in a Salamanca messaging firm holding 111 vapes, 42 apparently with marijuana, plus parts for two long guns. The seized items were placed at the disposal of the corresponding authorities; no detainees were reported.
Municipal, state and army officers seized 31 parcels of suspected marijuana and 23 wrappers of a substance like crystal in San Juan de Abajo, Bahía de Banderas, plus an abandoned Honda XR motorcycle. No one was arrested after the rider reportedly fled, and prosecutors were left to identify him.
National Guard officers found about 1.585 kg of suspected marijuana, 56 vape devices with apparent cannabis oil, three cigarettes and 15 gummies in parcels at Querétaro International Airport, plus an object resembling a firearm. Federal prosecutors opened an investigation into offences against health and transport of a firearm, and no arrests were reported.
