Tag Archives: operation martillo

Navy to Send Ship on Drug Patrols After Four-Month Hiatus

Navy to Send Ship on Drug Patrols After Four-Month Hiatus

USS Rentz (FFG-46) in 2009. US Navy Photo

USS Rentz (FFG-46) in 2009. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy will resume patrols for drug runners in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific after an almost four month hiatus due to budget cuts, Navy officials told USNI News on Monday.

Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Rentz (FFG-46) is set to travel to U.S. Southern Command in August for a six-month deployment, Navy 4th Fleet’s Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker told USNI News. Read More

Budget Cuts Could Pull Navy Out of The War on Drugs

Budget Cuts Could Pull Navy Out of The War on Drugs

U.S. Coast Guardsmen unload 3,500 pounds of cocaine in Miami March 16, 2012. The crew seized the cocaine from a 35-foot vessel in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Martillo. US Coast Guard Photo

U.S. Coast Guardsmen unload 3,500 pounds of cocaine in Miami March 16, 2012. The crew seized the cocaine from a 35-foot vessel in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Martillo. US Coast Guard Photo

U.S. Navy frigates will stop patrolling for drug runners by April because of forced sequestration budget cuts, a Navy spokesman told USNI News on Monday.

On Saturday, U.S. 4th Fleet was informed by Navy leadership it would suspend deployments of two ships—part of the Joint Interagency Task Force South’s Operation Martillo—by April because of the 1 March sequestration cuts, said the 4th Fleet’s Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker. Read More