PORT EVERGLADES, FLA. (WSVN) - A massive drug haul has been offloaded at Port Everglades.
The Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton crew brought in 26,000 pounds of cocaine and 1,500 pounds of marijuana , Thursday morning.
Tune in to our @USCGSoutheast Facebook page at 10 a.m. to see our live stream of the drug offload press briefing taking place at Port Everglades. pic.twitter.com/whjOPqITk5
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 6, 2019
The drugs were seized over the course of three months in international waters in the Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America.
“Our main mission is just to get these drugs off the streets, make sure home soil’s unaffected by it, or as much as we can do and get these guys off the streets as well,” said U.S. Coast Guard Officer Alex Reason.
“This is what you get paid for. You are on duty 24/7 really ready to answer any call whether it be search and rescue, contraband, anything that pops up really falls in line with the mission of the Coast Guard,” said U.S. Coast Guard member Briana Buderus.
The cocaine is worth an estimated $348 million while the marijuana seized is worth approximately $1.6 million.
“We are denying profits to criminal networks that corrupt governments, that foment violence and that literally export poison to the United States and other countries,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter Brown.
The offload is a way for the public to see the hard work put in by Coast Guard crews.
“All this could not happen without each and every one of the people behind me doing their part and doing it well,” said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Mark Gordon.
The contraband seized from over a dozen vessels also included several illegal guns, many of which were said to have been recovered from an Ecuadorian ship.
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