US Coast Guard offloads 10 tons of cocaine in Florida

US Coast Guard cutter Spencer has offloaded some 10 tons of cocaine and 23 kilograms of heroin in Port Everglades, Florida, on Tuesday.

The offloaded drugs were seized in international waters off the Eastern Pacific Ocean and are worth an estimated $300 million wholesale, according to the US Coast Guard.

The interdictions were made by multiple US Coast Guard cutters along Mexico and Central America.

Cutters Steadfast, James, Alert, Aspen, Vigorous, Spencer and Thetis were responsible for the interdictions. The most active was the crew of USCGC Alert who seized a total of 3,305 kilograms of cocaine and 23 kilograms of heroin.

Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security are involved in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with allied and international partner agencies play a role in counter-drug operations.