Transnational Organized Criminal Networks News

The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a contract to Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., of Panama City, Florida, Thursday for the production of the lead Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and up to eight follow-on cutters. The total award was valued at $110.29 million. The contract has a potential value of $2.38 billion with options to produce nine cutters. The OPC acquisition will replace the service’s aging fleet of medium endurance cutters, some that are in excess of 50 years old. Each OPC will feature a flight deck and advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. The OPC will provide a capability bridge between the National Security Cutter and the Fast Response Cutter, which operates closer to shore.

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) has awarded a $36 million contract to Brunswick Commercial and Government Products (BCGP) to supply up to sixty 32-foot and 37-foot Boston Whaler Justice models. The boats will support U.S. Southern Command’s counternarcotics assistance program within Central America and the Caribbean to counter transnational organized criminal networks in Latin America. The boats will be supplied over a four-year period.