- The US Coast Guard offloaded a record 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale.
- Valued at $473 million, the seizure is described as the largest quantity of drugs offloaded in Coast Guard history, enough to fatally overdose Florida's entire population.
- The drugs were confiscated during 19 separate interdictions conducted between 26 June and 18 August in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
- Multiple Coast Guard cutters, Navy warships, a Netherlands warship, and other units were involved in the operations, which also led to the arrest of 34 suspected drug traffickers.
- The Coast Guard stated that these drugs fuel cartels and transnational criminal organisations, and the administration of Donald Trump had directed the Coast Guard to focus more on drug trafficking.
IN FULL
Historic $473M drug haul was enough to overdose ‘entire population of Florida’, say Coast Guard
