Coast Guard's Seneca Returns To Boston From Deployment
BOSTON (AP) — The Coast Guard cutter Seneca is back home in Boston after a 70-day, 15,000-mile deployment in the Florida Straits and the eastern Pacific.
Related: Boston-Based Coast Guard Cutter Helps Capture Drug Smuggling Sub
The Coast Guard said Seneca's crew seized five boats illegally carrying narcotics from South America to the U.S., along with a total of 3.5 tons of cocaine having a street value of nearly $63 million. Fifteen suspected drug traffickers were arrested.
The Seneca also rescued more than 100 Cuban migrants attempting to sail to the U.S. in unsafe vessels.
The 270-foot Medium-Endurance Cutter returned to Boston on Saturday morning. The almost-29-year-old vessel's other missions include protecting marine life and conducting search-and-rescue operations.
The 26 Coast Guard cutters in Seneca's production class are scheduled to be phased out for new Offshore Patrol Cutters equipped with enhanced surveillance equipment and other updated features.
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