WHAT: Portsmouth-based Coast Guard Cutter Legare is scheduled to return to homeport Saturday after a 49-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea and drug offload in Miami. Following two separate high seas drug interdictions and seizures in the Caribbean Sea by the Legare crew and a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment detailed to the Canadian Ship Glace Bay, the combined contraband was transported by Legare’s crew and offloaded in Miami Tuesday. The seizure totaled to 3,300 kilograms of cocaine worth $110 million.
WHO: Media interviews of Cmdr. Kevin M. King, commanding officer of the cutter Legare. Legare crew homecoming and disembarking the cutter.
WHEN: The Legare is scheduled to arrive pierside 4 p.m., Saturday. Media should be at the pier no later than 3 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, 4000 Coast Guard Blvd, Portsmouth
CONTACT & RSVP: Senior Chief Petty Officer Sarah B. Foster 757.398.6521 cell 571.253.1759 Saturday 10 a.m.; email sarah.b.foster@uscg.mil
MEDIA GROUND RULES: Media credentials, driver’s license and proof of registration required for a base pass.
MEDIA KIT:
Press release of drug offload in Miami:
**Multimedia Release** Coast Guard offloads $110 million of cocaine - See more at: http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2144594/#sthash.fb11UyYV.dpuf
Coast Guard Cutter Legare website:
http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cgcLegare/
Cmdr. Kevin M. King bio:
http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cgcLegare/cofficer.asp
Video:
Legare drug seizure video: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/329896/coast-guard-cutter-legare-interdiction
Drug offload video: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/329863/coast-guard-cutter-legare-offloads-approximately-110-million-cocaine
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: The Cutter Legare is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter that operates in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico for the commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area. The cutter’s missions include search and rescue; maritime law enforcement; marine environmental protection; defense readiness; and ports, waterways and coastal security.
The 22-year-old Legare and the other 26 medium endurance cutters are slated for replacement by a new class of cutters. The new Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) will operate more than 50 miles from land, carrying out the Coast Guard's maritime security and safety activities in support of national interests. The OPC will be an economical, multi-mission ship, providing pursuit boat and helicopter capabilities and interoperability with other military and federal partners, superior to the cutters they replace. Equipped with modern sensors, the Offshore Patrol Cutter will provide the enhanced surveillance necessary to detect threats far from U.S. shores and meet the demands of the Coast Guard’s homeland security, search and rescue, law enforcement and other vital missions.