The goal is to disrupt the flow of illicit substances to North America, she said from aboard ship on the journey home, off the coast of Oregon. “It stops drugs from coming to people, so less drug users, less drug overdoses, also less money made by criminal groups from drug trafficking.” If the mission saves just one life, the effort is worth it, said Lt.-Cmdr. Nadia Shields, HMCS Saskatoon’s commanding officer. The drugs seized have an estimated value of $268.3 million US. The two Canadian ships were assigned to the eastern Pacific in a zone that went from Mexico to Ecuador. “The size of the area that we operated in was basically the size of the continental U.S.A.,” said Shields.