Callaghan (DDG 994) - Naval Cruise Book

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CALLAGHAN Seizes 141 Million Dollars Of Cocaine By Ensign Chris Cooper (Eastern Pacific)-ln an early morning, high-speed chase, USS CALLAGHAN (DDG 994) intercepted a transfer of narcotics on the high seas and seized over 3.5 metric tons of cocaine. The Sep- tember 27th seizure, estimated at over 141 million dollars street value, is believed to be the largest in the Eastern Pacific this year and came as CALLAGHAN entered its 4th month of counter-nar- cotic patrols. At 5am on the 27th, CALLAGHAN was on patrol in the Eastern Pacific when she picked up a fast-moving radar contact heading west. “We picked up the contact at 14,000 yards off our starboard bow, said the Officer-of-the-Deck, and within minutes it crossed our bow at 8000 yards. We were in hot pursuit.” CALLAGHAN accelerated and pursued the contact undetected for an hour until sunrise. As the sun came up, CALLAGHAN visually identified the contact as a “go-fast”, a 45-foot long, blue and black-hulled speed boat with 4 Outboard engines and a v-shaped hull. At about the same time, the go-fast realized it was being followed and increased speed to 35 knots and began zig-zagging through the water in an ef- fort to evade CALLAGHAN. CALLAGHAN ordered the boat to stop over bridge-to-bridge ra- dio and a loud hailer from the bridge wing to no avail. Instead of stopping, the crew members began dumping large white bales over the side of the boat. “At first they were just throwing the bales over the side,” said a CALLAGHAN look-out, “then they started hack- ing them up with a machete so they would sink.” With its load lightened, the go-fast increased speed to 40 knots and began to pull away from the KIDD-class destroyer. CAL- LAGHAN then launched its embarked Scahawk helicopter to con- tinue pursuit. The “Straycats” of HSL FOUR THREE DET NINE maintained contact and took digital photographs of the go-fast as she raced towards the Colombian coast. After 3-plus hours of sur- veillance, the STRAYCATS were relieved on station by a P-3 Orion aircraft and returned to CALLAGHAN to refuel. While STRAYCAT pursued the go-fast, CALLAGHAN back- tracked to the detection area in search of a possible transfer vessel and the discarded bales. At 1 lam they hit the jack-pot when CAL- LAGHAN’S Snoopy team sighted numerous white bales in the wa- ter. The bales were wrapped in several layers of shrink wrap plastic and rubber, allowing them to float on the surface. With the assis- tance of Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment EIGHT FOXTROT from Corpus Christi, TX, and CALLAGHAN’S boat crew, 121 601b bales were recovered. Random samplings from the bales tested positive for cocaine. There's one! 10 Drug Bust v. -- v„t -

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CALLAGHAN OMBUDSMAN Tammy Hoffman Tammy Hoffman and Angela McNeill, CALLAGHAN’S Ombudsmen, were the ones our friends and families turned to when we weren't there. Their selfless efforts ensured our loved ones were well in- formed of our status and whereabouts during SOUTHPAC '97. Tammy assumed sole duty as Ombuds- man from Angela midway through the deployment and often times knew more about CALLAGHAN'S schedule than we did. Whether providing assistance to CALLAGHAN families during times of crisis, preparing the pier for our return to Everett, or simply laying to rest the rumors about the ship’s schedule, our Ombudsmen did a spectacular job. The crew sends its sincere appreciation to Angela and Tammy for supporting us as we supported our country. Ombudsman 9

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A great acknowledgement for a long deployment. - Drug Butt 11