MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded more than 27,000 pounds of cocaine in Miami Beach that was seized in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
"It will all be offloaded by the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa today in Miami Beach Florida and sent for destruction," the Coast Guard said in a Facebook post.
The Coast Guard said in a news release that the drugs are worth an estimated $360 million. The cocaine was seized in 12 separate operations off the coasts of Mexico, Central America and South America during a three-month period.
Using #notonourstreets, the Coast Guard posted video on Facebook of the seizure, saying, "Here's what 27,000 lbs. of cocaine looks like."
"It takes a collaborative and sophisticated network to defeat a criminal network," Deputy Commandant for Operations VADM Daniel Abel said in a news conference.
The news release also stated: "The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with allied and international partner agencies play a role in counter-drug operations.
The cutter Tampa even participated in the first joint boarding in recent memory between the United States and Ecuador. The fight against transnational organized crime networks in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Basin requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring, and interdictions, to prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys in Florida, California, New York, the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere."
Cox Media Group
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