The Coast Guard Cutter Spencer returned home to Boston Tuesday following a highly successful 90-day patrol fighting transnational organized crime networks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and training for multi-national search and rescue response in the Arctic.

The crew’s patrol efforts resulted in the interdiction of four drug-laden vessels, the seizure of more than 7,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $110 million, and the apprehension of 12 suspected smugglers.

Last week, the crew offloaded approximately 10 tons of cocaine and 23 kilograms of heroin in Port Everglades, Florida, worth an estimated $300 million wholesale. The drugs were interdicted along Mexico and Central America by multiple U.S. Coast Guard cutters.

"While this offload represents approximately 10 tons of illicit drugs that will never hit out streets, it also represents a significant depletion to the cash flow to these criminal organizations," said Cdr. John Mctamney, Spencer's commanding officer.

Mctamney said the offload is not just the result of their crew's work, but the combined efforts of multiple Coast Guard cutters, aircraft, and support, as well as those of "our partners and allied men and women who continue to work day and night to stop these criminal organizations from profiting off transnational crime and smuggling."

During their patrol, the Spencer’s crew also participated in the 2017 Arctic Guardian Search and Rescue (SAR) Exercise in Reyjkavik, Iceland. The full-scale, underway exercise included participation by eight Arctic nations working to hone best practices for potential multi-national search and rescue response in the Arctic region.

The cutter Spencer is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Boston with a crew complement of 13 officers and 87 enlisted personnel.