The US Coast Guard on Monday announced that it had seized more than 76,000 pounds of narcotics off the coast of Florida, the largest drug offload in the 110-year history of the maritime law enforcement agency. In a statement, officials said that around 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana were offloaded at Port Everglades, Florida. The total street value of the seizure has been pegged at approximately $473 million. According to the Coast Guard, the massive haul was the outcome of 19 separate interdictions conducted in international waters across the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea between June 26 and August 18. The coordinated operations involved three Coast Guard cutters, two US Navy warships, a Dutch naval vessel, and several interagency units, including the Department of Homeland Security. The contraband was brought to port aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, which played a central role in the seizures. The Coast Guard confirmed that the missions were carried out in coordination with the Department of Defense, targeting drug-running vessels off the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador, the coasts of Venezuela and Mexico, as well as in waters near the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Aruba. Addressing a news conference at Port Everglades, Coast Guard officer Frank Marrano highlighted the effort behind the record operation. “All of these interdictions and the drugs seized are the result of four months of hard work – not only by the Hamilton’s crew but also by our sister agencies and partner nations,” he said. Captain John B McWhite, commanding officer of the Hamilton, said the cutter’s crew alone interdicted 11 high-speed ‘go-fast’ vessels, detained 34 suspected traffickers, and seized a record 47,000 pounds of cocaine. The combined haul of 76,140 pounds (34,500kg), including about 61,740lbs (28,000kg) of cocaine and about 14,400lbs (6,500kg) of marijuana, marks the largest offload in Coast Guard history. According to Navy Times, the previous record was set in 2021, when 61,130 pounds of illegal drugs were seized.
