U.S. Coast Guard Seizes $375 Million Worth of Illegal Drugs

The U.S. Coast Guard announced that it seized 19 tons of illegal drugs worth millions in international waters recently.

“The Coast Guard Cutter James (WMSL-754) crew is scheduled to offload approximately 28,000 pounds of seized cocaine worth an estimated $367 million and approximately 11,000 pounds of seized marijuana worth an estimated $10.1 million,” the press release said.

The release continued:

The drugs were interdicted in international waters of the Caribbean Basin and the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America and include contraband seized and recovered in 18 separate interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels by U.S. Coast Guard.

On Monday afternoon, the agency posted a photo of the Cutter James crew during one of the operations.

In a subsequent tweet, the agency also shared a video showing the massive amount of cocaine that was intercepted.

Capt. Jeffrey Randall, Coast Guard Cutter James commanding officer, praised the crews for their efforts in keeping the drugs out of the nation’s communities.

He commented:

What you see is 19 tons of narcotics seized from 18 separate Coast Guard interdiction events, with a street value worth more than $375 million. 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 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. Due to this cooperative effort, we maintain an offensive against criminal networks and criminal organizations.

“It’s pretty exciting to see it all stacked up in one spot and see the, just the effect of the work that went into this, especially by the crew and members on board,” Josh Groen of the U.S Coast Guard told ABC 7.

The drugs will be offloaded at Port Everglades in Florida, according to the press release.

In July, the Coast Guard shared heart-pounding video of a crewman jumping onto a moving drug trafficking submarine as it sped through the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The footage shows the crewman leaping onto the moving submarine and pounding on the vessel’s hatch. Finally, the hatch opens and a suspect emerges with arms raised in surrender.

Breitbart News reported that “five more people were found inside the submarine, along with 17,000 pounds of cocaine. The street value of the illegal drug seized in this particular instance is estimated to be about $232 million.”