A compelling and widely shared video from the Coast Guard highlights service members executing a quick and accurate drug interdiction against smugglers in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Members of the small-boat crew US Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756) conducted the operation on April 17, according to the military branch.
Captured by Petty Officer 3rd Class Austin Wiley, the video shows the vessel Kimball quickly approaching the suspected drug smugglers, with crew members issuing commands that led to an immediate surrender.
“Hands up!” the service members can be heard yelling in Spanish at the suspects on the alleged smuggling vessel.
The men are then ordered onto their stomachs with their hands spread.
They immediately complied.
The crew then boarded the vessel and arrested the suspects.
“Kimball’s fifth interdiction during its patrol demonstrates the complexity of halting illegal activities on the open ocean,” the Coast Guard remarked regarding the video filmed by Petty Officer 3rd Class Austin Wiley.
“Kimball started with aerial surveillance then engaged tactical law enforcement, and then sank the vessel so it wouldn’t be a hazard to other vessels.”
Through its five operations, the crew of the Kimball recovered a whopping $214 million worth of drugs and offloaded them in San Diego, the Coast Guard said.
“Illegal drugs pose a dangerous threat to the American people, and the men and women of the Coast Guard do everything in their power to interdict drugs before they reach our shores,” the Coast Guard added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security.
Fox News’ Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
