(NewsNation) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced it offloaded 76,140 pounds of illicit narcotics Monday, the largest drug dump in Coast Guard history.
The offload included nearly $500 million worth of illegal drugs, including 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana, Coast Guard officials confirmed at a news conference.
“The 61,740 pounds of cocaine represent 23 million potentially lethal doses, that’s enough to fatally overdose the entire population of the state of Florida,” U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Adam Chamie said.
The drugs were seized during 19 interdictions off the coasts of the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean over the past several months. The record-breaking offload took place at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe also spoke at the news conference and acknowledged that many of the drugs were transported by “organized crime gangs in Venezuela,” such as “Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles.”
Previously, the largest Coast Guard narcotics dump was in 2021, when 61,130 pounds of illegal drugs were offloaded, according to the Navy Times.