Coast Guard makes record drug haul

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday that it seized more than 75,000 pounds of illegal drugs from 19 vessels this summer, prompting the USCG’s largest-ever offload – nearly half a billion dollars in illegal narcotics – when the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton returned to Florida this week.

USCG Southeast District Commander Rear Adm. Adam Chamie said in a news release that the haul – about 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana – “represents a significant victory in the fight against transnational criminal organizations.”

“To put this into perspective, the potential 23 million lethal doses of cocaine seized by the U.S. Coast Guard and our partners, are enough to fatally overdose the entire population of the state of Florida, underscoring the immense threat posed by transnational drug trafficking to our nation,” Chamie said.

The drug-loaded boats were intercepted in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea from June 28 to Aug. 18, according to the USCG.

In the first interdiction, two suspicious boats spotted off the Galapagos Islands were found carrying 8,800 pounds of cocaine. Two separate interceptions were reported on the final day of the mission – one south of Jamaica and another near Curacao – with more than 7,000 pounds of cocaine seized between the two.

“Team Hamilton with our partners, worked incredibly hard the last several months to safeguard the American public from the dangers of illicit narcotics entering the United States,” Hamilton commanding officer Capt. John B. McWhite said.

The Trump administration set out to overhaul the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) earlier this year, with a focus on curbing illegal immigration and drug trafficking under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“After decades of underinvestment and severe readiness challenges, the President and Secretary of Homeland Security have directed action to renew the Coast Guard to become a more agile, capable and responsive fighting force,” Coast Guard Adm. Kevin Lunday wrote in a June overview of the new plans.

Lundy testified during a congressional hearing in May that from October to mid-February the USCG had already seized more cocaine than in all of the previous fiscal year.