The US Coast Guard made its largest-ever offload of more than 70,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana seized along the Florida coast over just two months, the military branch announced on Monday.
Guardsmen dropped a whopping 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana at Port Everglades, Florida, on Monday, officials said.
The bulk of the 76,140 pounds of illegal drugs was collected between June 26 and Aug. 18 through 19 different missions on international waters, primarily surrounding Ecuador, Venezuela and Mexico, according to a news release.
The sting, dubbed Operation Pacific Viper, clinched its largest seizure on waters near Socorro Island, Mexico, where the troops seized 9,160 pounds of cocaine — roughly 12% of the record-breaking haul collected by the end of the summer.
On top of that, Guardsmen also intercepted 11 go-fast vessels transporting the illicit drugs and detained 34 alleged drug traffickers, officials said.
Officials estimated that the heaping stash is worth around $473 million and enough to supply 23 million potential lethal doses to buyers in the US.
Rear Admiral Adam Chamie, commander of the branch’s south-east district, said that it would be enough “to fatally overdose the entire population of the state of Florida,” according to the release.
Florida, the third most populated state in the US, has approximately 23.7 million residents, according to the 2024 census.
“This represents a significant victory in the fight against transnational criminal organizations, highlighting our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the nation from illicit trafficking and its devastating impacts,” Chamie said.
The previous record for the branch’s largest offload was 61,130 pounds of drugs, primarily cocaine, worth a staggering $1.4 billion
In July, the Coast Guard intercepted roughly 5,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana worth roughly $20 million as part of a massive Caribbean bust not included in the historic haul.
The Coast Guard isn’t the only agency shattering records.
In early August, the South Dakota Highway Patrol snatched 207 pounds of crystal meth from an illegal migrant passing through the state, making way for the largest single seizure in its history.
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