The nation’s first Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (LCS 1), achieved its first drug seizure on February 22 in the Western Caribbean when it disrupted a high-speed “go-fast” vessel and recovered more than a quarter of a ton of cocaine.
CARIBBEAN SEA (Feb. 22, 2010) An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, embarked aboard the littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1), hovers over the position of illicit drugs dumped overboard by the crew of a high-speed "go-fast" vessel. Sailors and Coast Guardsmen from Freedom, left, and Colombian navy sailors in a patrol boat search the area beneath the helicopter. Freedom's boarding team recovered 72 kilos of cocaine from the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Ed Early/Released)
After locating the “go-fast” vessel carrying suspected illicit drugs, USS Freedom launched its MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter. Following interception by the helicopter, the vessel discarded its illicit drugs in the water and entered Colombian waters, where the Colombian Navy took over the tracking and pursuit mission.
USS Freedom’s team then coordinated with a Colombian Navy patrol boat and Colombian patrol aircraft to retrieve seven bales and 72 kilos of cocaine from the water. The drugs were seized by the U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment as evidence.
“Our combined team of ship’s crew, Mission Package, aviation detachment and Coast Guard LEDET showed great teamwork and resolve,” said Cmdr. Randy Garner, Freedom’s commanding officer, in a U.S. Navy press release.
This successful operation comes just one week after USS Freedom departed from Naval Station Mayport, FL, for its maiden deployment to the U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Pacific Command areas of responsibility, approximately two years ahead of schedule.
USS Freedom is the first of 55 the Navy plans for a new class of ships designed to operate in coastal waters. Her capabilities have been demonstrated since the ship was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2008. She has sailed more than 12,000 nm, successfully completed sea trials, helicopter landings and certification, ship handling/refueling, weapons firings and certifications, combat system and exterior/interior communications, small boat launch and recovery and Surface Warfare mission-package testing.
