Turtle tangled in cocaine bundles freed by U.S. Coast Guard crew

A sea turtle that became entangled in a web of cocaine bales adrift in the Eastern Pacific got some help from the U.S. Coast Guard.

A Coast Guard Cutter Thetis boat crew worked to free the turtle that had significant chaffing from the lines on his neck and flippers.

According to the Coast Guard, the sea turtle rescue came during a 68-day Eastern Pacific counter drug patrol during which the cutter Thetis crew worked alongside the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team, an aviation detachment from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron and a Royal Canadian Navy maritime coastal defense vessel in support of Operation Martillo, seizing nearly 7 tons of cocaine.