Combating drug trafficking

Frigate retirements likely to hamper drug busts at sea

Frigates are, hands-down, the heavy hitter in the Navy's fight to stop drug traffickers at sea. They nabbed 98 percent of the 164 metric tons of cocaine, valued at $3.2 billion, that Navy ships have seized in the last five years.

But the frigates' service coming to an end this summer, which could cripple drug interdiction efforts in the coming year. That's why planners are scrambling to assemble a hodgepodge of auxiliary ships to take on the mission until the littoral combat ships arrive in sufficient numbers.