Coast Guard offloads almost 4 tons of cocaine with estimated street value of $143.5 million
The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded over 7,500 pounds of cocaine at Port Everglades on Monday, CBS Miami reports. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma removed the bales, which had an estimated street value of $143.5 million.
The coke — more than 3.75 tons of it — was seized in three interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The first came on April 16, when a USCG detachment team on the HMCS (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship) Saskatoon caught five suspects on a low-profile vessel. Nearly 4,000 pounds of cocaine were seized on that craft.
Four days later, on April 20, a maritime patrol flight alerted the Tahoma crew to a vessel that turned out to have 2,400 pounds of coke. Four people were apprehended in that operation.
Another 1,200 pounds were recovered on April 23 by a Tahoma crewmember who spotted bales floating in the water.
The offload came a day after Customs and Border Protection announced agents at Port Everglades seized over 69 pounds of cocaine found on a cruise ship.
According to CBP, on a typical day the agency seizes more than 3,677 pounds of illicit drugs along the nation's borders.
