A top U.S. Coast Guard official said strikes conducted against alleged drug vessels have not significantly altered cocaine smuggling routes in the Atlantic.
Speaking to CBS News, Adm. Nathan Moore, the commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, said the force has not seen "any noticeable difference" in the flow of cocaine in the region.
He made the claim after the Coast Guard seized almost 50,000 pounds of cocaine, which have a street value of more than $360 million. It was the "most cocaine ever seized by a single cutter in one deployment, so business is good," Moore said.
Moore also told the outlet that there have not been major changes in routes or pace in the region, or in drug purity, despite the more than 20 strikes conducted in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific, killing over 80 people.
However, Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole contradicted Moore's claim, saying cocaine is getting more expensive, not only "in the U.S., but we're seeing it become more expensive at first stops."
"So more expensive in Puerto Rico, more expensive in the Dominican, more expensive once it lands in Guatemala and Honduras and Central America," he added, claiming that the price increased between 30 and 45% per kilo.
"It's now more expensive to recruit boat captains, it's more expensive to purchase engines, it's more expensive to build larger boats for transportation," Cole claimed.
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