The US Coastguard offloaded $475 million worth of drugs that were seized from smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, officials said.
The Coast Guard unloaded the massive haul in Miami Beach on Thursday after two of its ships, a US Navy ship and a vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy intercepted the drugs, the Coast Guard said.
In total, 24,700 pounds of cocaine and 3,892 pounds of marijuana were recovered in the operation.
“I am proud of the crew’s continued devotion to duty that made this offload possible,” said Cdr. Jeremy M. Greenwood, commanding officer of Legare, a 270-foot Coast Guard cutter stationed in Virginia.
“Through the coordinated efforts of the Legare, the LEDETs, HNLMS Groningen, CGC James, and the USS Billings crews, we significantly contributed to the counter-drug mission and the dismantling of transnational criminal organizations. The drugs seized through this coordinated effort will result in significantly fewer drug-related overdoses.”
The Coast Guard said stopping drug traffickers on the high seas can require significant coordination with other agencies and other nations, including the Netherlands which has three territories in the Caribbean: Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.