Agencies offload more than 33,000 pounds of seized narcotics in Fort Lauderdale

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) personnel and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James crew members recently offloaded narcotics seized in international waters during a briefing at Port Everglades in Florida.

The Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security joined in detailing the 33,000-pound seizure of cocaine and marijuana from the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea valued at an estimated $438.5 million.

“We witness another blow to drug trafficking organizations attempting to smuggle their poisons into our country,” DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea said. “This offload represents hundreds of millions of dollars in profits that would otherwise go to fueling these organizations and continuing the deadly cycle of drug addiction and violence they promote. DEA, together with our partners, is committed to bringing narco-traffickers to justice, and to dismantling their organizations across the nation and around the world.”

Maritime initiatives designed to combat drug cartels require unity in all phases from detection, monitoring, and interdictions, officials said, to criminal prosecutions by U.S. Attorney’s Offices in districts across the nation.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf; Admiral Karl Schultz, Commandant of the Coast Guard; Admiral Craig Faller, Commander U.S. Southern Command; and Captain Jeffrey Randal, Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James joined Shea at the announcement at the Fort Lauderdale offload site.