A video showing a speedboat with drug smugglers fleeing from the US Coast Guard in an encounter on 18 July has been published on the Internet by the law enforcement branch. In the footage, the smugglers are seen desperately dumping their cargo of cocaine overboard, with the total estimated value of the shipment estimated at $350 million, NBC News reported.
.@VP is welcoming back the crew of CG Cutter Munro as they turn over 39K lbs of cocaine from drug seizures like this one from a semi-submersible off South America to federal agents. We will be live-streaming the offload on Facebook in a few hours. More: https://t.co/5eQRbQpxw5 pic.twitter.com/9bMRorDC4I
— U.S. Coast Guard (@USCG) July 11, 2019
The video has spurred an array of reactions across social media, with many netizens praising the actions of the coast guard, who won the hot pursuit.
Coast Guard is bad ass!🙌🏼
— capito⚾️🇺🇸❤️🐾🍷☀️💋💪🏼🤙🏼💄 (@capitotally) July 26, 2019
Good job @uscoastguard under the @DHSgov !! Keep up the good fight!! Dont listen to @AOC trashing you. Americans support you!!! You are like super humans. We support you and appreciate everything you do!! Thank you for your hard work!!
— Ghost Dance (@cdiluvio) July 26, 2019
Others responded to the publication of the pursuit recording, sarcastically pointing to US President Trump's remarks that a wall on the border with Mexico would stop the influx of drugs entering the country.
Good thing they stopped before they crashed into the wall...oh, wait...
— Scott Dunham (@MenckenWasRight) July 27, 2019
Building a wall should put a stop to this 😒
— Super V (@SuperVic1976) July 27, 2019
Many Twitterians responded to the news jokingly, suggesting that the local fish population must have had a "good time" due to all the cocaine that was thrown out of the boat.
No wonder the fish aren’t biting.
— Crashtian (@510_Bate) July 27, 2019
Those fish are going to have a GOOD time
— ?¿ (@mindofvanessa) July 27, 2019
Some, though, suggested that not everyone in the country was happy about the coast guard’s successful operation.
Mitch McConnell is gonna be pissed you took his coke.
— Mandalay🌹 a Texan🇺🇸 (@Mandalayt) July 26, 2019
Mitch McConnell is gonna be pissed you took his coke.
— Mandalay🌹 a Texan🇺🇸 (@Mandalayt) July 26, 2019
One social media user recalled the recent seizure of a JPMorgan-owned cargo ship that was loaded with bags full of cocaine.
It appears JP Morgan has downsized its operation. 🤣🤣🤣
— 👾Ragnarok Astronaut👾 (@RebelDipstick) July 26, 2019
The MSC Gayane, owned by JPMorgan Chase via a transportation fund, was leased to Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping (MSC), which was operating the ship and its crew. The vessel was detained in Philadelphia in June 2019, with authorities finding some 20 tonnes of cocaine on board, valued at around $1.3 billion. US Customs and Border Protection reported that it was the largest shipment that the agency had ever seized.
