The U.S. Coast Guard has announced the seizure of $1.4 billion worth of marijuana and cocaine.
Coast Guard officials said it seized 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana in multiple operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, WFLA reported.
Most of the seizures happened off the coast of Panama and Colombia over the past three months, WTVJ reported.
The find was double the amount they seized in the fall of 2020.
The 29 tons of cocaine and nearly one ton of marijuana were offloaded in Port Everglades on Thursday, WFLA reported.
“It just shows how much work still needs to be done. The fact that this is done in only three months, it just shows that we’re doing our jobs [but] there’s still a lot more to be done,” USCG Operations Specialist 2nd Class Jonathan Centerno said, according to WTVJ.
The sailors used small boats, helicopters and even people on land to conduct the seizures, WFOR reported.
Officials said it was the largest offload of illegal drugs in the service’s history.
The drugs are being transferred to an interagency team that will work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute the alleged drug traffickers, WFOR reported.