FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WFLA) – US Coast Guard crews returned to Florida Wednesday, where crews loaded more than 48,400 pounds of illegal drugs seized at sea for four months.
Coast Guard officials said the seized drugs contain 44,550 pounds of cocaine and 3,880 pounds of marijuana. Officials estimated the drug was worth more than $509 million in total.
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US Cutter James spent four months in the Eastern Pacific as part of a counter-drug operation. Authorities say crews used surveillance systems, drones, aircraft and ships to stop several ships and seize drugs.
The crew returned to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. Coast Guard officials were joined by Port Attorney General Pam Bondy and FBI Director Kash Patel to discuss the seizures.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, Bondy said 11 separate prosecutions would be made as a result of the operation. Authorities also pointed out that the two cartel groups are believed to be heavily linked to the shipment.
“The medicine you saw today will no longer destroy life,” Bondy said. “They will help us lock up criminals.”
“They’re going to remove all the drugs from the streets, from the market, and like the Attorney General said, we’re trying to lock them in, they’re not going to roam freely any more,” Patel added.
