Coast Guard offloads over $500M dollars of cocaine, marijuana in Fort Lauderdale
The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday offloaded tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine and thousands of pounds of marijuana — with an estimated street value of more than $500 million — at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale that it and other agencies confiscated while on a tour off South America earlier this year.
In total, the Coast Guard Cutter James crew and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations intercepted 44,550 pounds of cocaine and 3,880 pounds of marijuana off the coast of Ecuador and Peru in 11 operations between January and February, the agency said.
In addition to the cocaine and marijuana, the Coast Guard brought back 34 people accused of smuggling the drugs who now face federal prosecution, according to the agency.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi attended the offloading of the contraband.
“This is a key example of the Department of Justice working with our law enforcement partners to fight crime and keep drugs from flowing into America,” Bondi said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to the incredible work of the Coast Guard and FBI, these drugs will help lock up criminals instead of ruining lives.”
