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January 27, 2009

By Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 27, 2009

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bear is scheduled to return to Portsmouth today following a two-month law enforcement patrol in the Caribbean Sea.

The Bear worked with the Seventh Coast Guard District, which covers the coast off of South Carolina to the Caribbean Sea. Its primary functions were to enforce counter-drug laws and alien migration laws, a Coast Guard news release said.

During its patrol, the crew responded to increased Haitian migrant activity in December, interdicting 318 migrants from five overloaded vessels, the news release said. The Bear’s crew provided food, water, shelter and medical care to the migrants. The Bear also maintained a presence along known drug routes between the United States and Europe and conducted boardings to search for illegal drugs.

The crew also assisted a sinking 72-foot Haitian coastal freighter that was sinking south of Great Inagua Island, Bahamas on Dec. 15, the news release said.

Bear is one of six 270-foot cutters based in Portsmouth.