Coast Guard offloads $140.9M worth of confiscated cocaine, marijuana in Florida
The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded an estimated $140.9 million worth of illegal drugs at Port Everglades Friday.
The drugs, which officials suspect were bound for the United States, were seized from six suspicious vessels stopped between April 12 and May 7 in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Altogether, the contraband amounted to nearly 19,055 pounds of cocaine and marijuana — 10,000 pounds of which was seized from a single fishing vessel stopped 1,200 miles west of the Canary Islands.
Authorities said the drug activity was linked to multiple transnational criminal organizations, including Tren de Aragua, a gang with roots in Venezuela.
The Coast Guard’s Calhoun crew was involved in almost all of the interdictions.
“I’m incredibly proud of Calhoun’s role in continuing to disrupt the flow of illicit narcotics,” said Capt. Matthew Hammond, Calhoun’s commanding officer. “The Coast Guard and our partners work tirelessly to deny drug trafficking organizations access to smuggling routes bound for the United States and dismantle transnational criminal activity abroad, which threaten Americans here at home.”
