Today, His Majesty's Canadian Ships (HMCS) Edmonton and Yellowknife returned to their home port of Esquimalt, British Columbia, after a successful seven-week deployment on Operation CARIBBE.
During this deployment, on September 5, 2024, HMCS Yellowknife intercepted a drug smuggling vessel, in close partnership with the embarked United States Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment. This interdiction, approximately 430 nautical miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, resulted in the seizure approximately 1,400 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $60 million (Canadian).
Operation CARIBBE is Canada's contribution to the U.S.-led Enhanced Counternarcotics Operations under Joint Interagency Task Force - South, which is responsible for conducting interagency and international detection, monitoring operations, and facilitating the interdiction of illicit trafficking. This Operation is one of the many activities undertaken by the Government of Canada to suppress transnational criminal activity at sea and help keep drugs off Canadian streets.
