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The crew of a Florida-based multi-agency task force unit has seized and destroyed a record-breaking one million pounds of cocaine in the last 12 months. That number, officials say, is enough narcotics to kill every American.
The Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, and other interagency partners worked together to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs being trafficked from transit operations between South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, that flow into the United States.
According to the task force, they seized an estimated $11 billion worth of drugs, which was enough to fill 42 dump trucks.
“These operations demonstrate the United States’ commitment to protecting the homeland by disrupting the flow of illicit drugs,” said U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees JIATF-S. “By disrupting the flow of these deadly drugs, we are saving lives and protecting our homeland.”
The seizure of the drugs, called ‘interdictions,’ involved several teams. The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded nearly $94.5 million in illegal narcotics in Fort Lauderdale captured in Operation Pacific Viper, it reported Tuesday.
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Since August, the team has increased cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams in order to interdict, seize, and disrupt transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs.
Since the launch, the Coast Guard has interdicted over 80,000 pounds of cocaine.
“I’m incredibly proud of the teamwork and adaptability displayed by my crew and our partners during this patrol to stop illicit drug flow from entering the United States,” said Capt. Lee Jones, commander, Coast Guard Cutter Seneca. “Our crews sacrifice time away from their families, and when necessary, put themselves in harm’s way to secure our borders and protect the American people.”
Officials noted that 80% of U.S.-bound narcotics seizures occur at sea, which underscores the significance of maritime interdictions.
JIATF-S operates across 42 million square miles, from the Eastern Pacific to the Western Atlantic, stretching from international waters north of the Caribbean to the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn, Fox News reports.
The region is known for a vast network of traffickers who move drugs, arms, cash, and people.
Officials said the one million pounds of cocaine seized does not include strikes on Venezuelan narco-terrorists.
The Trump administration has also promised to carry out military strikes against drug cartels operating in Venezuela. This week, President Trump declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and said the U.S. is now in a “non-international armed conflict.”
A strike on an alleged drug boat departing Venezuela at the beginning of September was the start the administration’s effort.
“This is a counter-drug operation,” Rubio said. “We are going to take on drug cartels wherever they are, wherever they are operating against the interests of the U.S.”
“Nicolás Maduro is an indicted drug trafficker in the United States, and he’s a fugitive of American justice,” he said in a later statement.
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