US Coast GuardThe US Coast Guard has captured nearly $400 million worth of cocaine and marijuana, with 10 different crews responsible for the numerous seizures, at a port in Florida.
Approximately 28,000 pounds of seized cocaine (worth an estimated $367 million) and 11,000 pounds of seized marijuana (worth an estimated $10.1 million) are now scheduled to be offloaded at Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Officials said the contraband was intercepted in 18 separate operations of suspected drug smuggling vessels, in international waters of the Caribbean Basin and Easter Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America.
You can watch the moment some of the drugs were seized below:
In a press release, Captain Jeffrey Randall, the Coast Guard Cutter James commanding officer, praised the efforts of the US Coast Guard – particularly the Coast Guard Cutter James crew, who offloaded the seized drugs.
Randall said:
These drugs will not reach Main Street USA due to the efforts of the James crew and other Coast Guard cutters involved in these interdictions.
The commanding officer added the James crew conducted counter-drug operations ‘with the cooperative efforts with regional partner nations, like Columbia, Costa Rica and alongside the agencies involved in Operation Martillo to stop the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States.’
Subsequently, because of this cooperative effort, Captain Randall said ‘we maintain an offensive against criminal networks and criminal organisations.’
US Coast GuardThe Colombian Navy was also present at the press conference, with Rear Admiral Jose Jauquin Amezquita Garcia noting the detrimental impact drug trafficking has on society, as WSVN 7News reports.
Garcia, the head of naval planning with the Colombian Navy, said:
Drug trafficking is a tragedy and a threat that is taking lives and tearing apart urban and suburban communities in the United States as well as small villages in the rural areas of Colombia.
The US Coast Guard shared a video on Twitter of the 28,000 pounds of cocaine that was intercepted, showing multiple bundles of the drug stacked high on top of each other.
At the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James. This is how 28,000 pounds of interdicted cocaine look like.
Stand by for our Facebook live press event. pic.twitter.com/Xr2DiOjJMI
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) October 28, 2019
Officer John Groen said of the operation, which took around six to eight weeks in total: ‘It’s pretty exciting to see it all stacked up in one spot and see the effects of the work that went into this.’
While Captain Randall also stressed how difficult the conditions of the seizure were, noting: ‘The crew of James, operating in the dark of night and under challenging conditions, drove our boats, flew our helicopters to interdict drug smugglers operating in a variety of vessels.’
What an incredible effort to get dangerous substances off the streets of America.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).