| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District |
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| Press Release |
Date: May 14, 2005 Contact: Lt. j.g. Eric Willis |
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413 POUNDS OF COCAINE SEIZED BY COMBINED FORCES St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands - The 48-foot sailing vessel Geo was escorted into Charlotte Amolie this morning after U.S. Coast Guard Boarding Team members aboard the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Wave Knight found more than 187 kilo grams of cocaine hidden below decks. Geo was located 26 miles north east of Anguilla, Lesser Antilies on Wednesday afternoon, by a helicopter deployed from Wave Knight. The sailboat, registered in Gibraltar, did not respond to routine inquiry via radio and was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) embarked on Wave Knight with the permission of the U.K. government. Coast Guard LEDET members specialize in counter drug and maritime interdiction operations and routinely deploy on U.S., British, French and Dutch naval vessels. Suspicions were raised when apparent repairs to the starboard side of Geo noticed by the boarding team were unexplainable by the crew of two. Further suspicions arose when some of the vessels floorboards, normally not accessible, showed signs of recent removal. The two men aboard Geo were later taken into custody after the boarding team found the cocaine. The two suspects will appear in U.S. District court on Monday in St. Thomas after being arrested for drug trafficking. HMS Wave Knight is a 644-foot British fleet support tender. LEDET 405 is from Tactical Law Enforcement Team South based in Miami, Florida. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
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