PROVIDENCE — A Newport, R.I.-based US Coast Guard crew has returned home after seizing more than 8,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $91 million during a multi-mission patrol to the eastern Pacific Ocean, officials said.

Mexico’s navy is assisting with an offshore patrol vessel and a maritime patrol aircraft, according to the Coast Guard. “The search area and effort are vast, and the operation is being carefully coordinated to ensure maximum coverage and effectiveness,” the Coast Guard said in its release.

A Newport-based Coast Guard cutter seized more than $91 million in cocaine during a 63-day patrol in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.

A crew member aboard the cutter Waesche has been reported “unaccounted for” while operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The Coast Guard is searching for a missing member of the crew of USCGC Waesche (WMSL-751) off the Pacific coast of Mexico near the border of Guatemala, USNI News learned. The unidentified Coast Guardsman was initially reported missing while the Legend-class National Security Cutter was operating off the coast of Mexico.

A Coast Guard crew seized roughly 8,061 pounds of cocaine during a recent mission in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.

A Newport-based U.S. Coast Guard crew seized more than 8,000 pounds of cocaine, valued at over $91 million, during a 63-day patrol in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.