That United States Coast Guard (USCG) unloaded a cache of cocaine at a Florida port this Friday valued at more than $22 million and from various confiscations in the Caribbean Sea.
“The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Robert Yered dumped more than $22 million worth of cocaine at the US Coast Guard station in Fort Lauderdale on Friday following multiple interdictions in the Caribbean,” the USCG said via Twitter.
Images shared by the Coast Guard showed the cache, which consisted of several bales of drug packages. Although the US uniform officials did not provide details of the seizures, the value they calculated indicates an approximate quantity of 1,000 kilograms of coca.
In April, the USCG seized near Puerto Rico a shipment of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaineestimated at approx 20 million dollars.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agents unloaded the drug at the USCG San Juan Base.
A statement from the Maritime Corps said: “During a routine patrol, the crew of a Customs and Border Protection Service aircraft sighted a suspicious vessel near Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard lookout posts in the San Juan sector distracted Coast Guard cutter Donald Horsley, who arrived on site and intercepted a 35-foot Go Fast boat.”
Two Dominican nationals were on the boat in which they were transporting several bales of alleged contraband. The check found that the 33 bales confiscated were positive for cocaine.
captain Gregory H MageeCommander of Sector San Juan, stated that the “case underscores the steadfast determination of the Coast Guard and our partners to disrupt drug smuggling ships at sea and protect the nation’s southernmost maritime border.”
Referring to working with the DEA, he noted that “these organizations are key to protecting our citizens in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands from drug trafficking and other smuggling threats in the Caribbean.”
In December 2021, the USCG seized large quantities of cocaine totaling $148 million, during three operations in the Caribbean. As a result, nine suspected drug traffickers of Colombian and Dominican nationality were arrested.
“The Coast Guard’s strong international alliances counter maritime threats, protect each of our countries from transnational organized crime and work to stabilize and promote good governance in the region,” he said at the time. Hansel PintoSpokesman for the Seventh Coast Guard District based in Miami.
Drug smuggling into the United States also occurs through other sea routes. In November 2021, the USCG seized a huge shipment of drugs. with an estimated value of $504 millionthis time in the eastern Pacific, off the coasts of Mexico, Central America and South America.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with Canadian authorities and the thousands of pounds of drugs came from contraband goods seized and seized in eight arrests from vessels identified as suspected smugglers.
As the USCG explained in its bulletin at the time, the fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean will require a concerted effort from detection, surveillance and ship interception to criminal prosecution by international partners and the United States Attorney’s Offices in districts across the country.