MIAMI — U.S. Coast Guard crews from Tampa said they seized enough cocaine to kill 1.4 million people on Thursday.
The Cutter Tampa crew offloaded approximately 3,825 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $28.7 million, after two interdictions in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The drug bust was part of Operation Pacific Viper, which was launched to accelerate counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific, a primary corridor for narcotics smuggling from Central and South America. Since the operation launched in early August, the Coast Guard has seized more than 215,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehended 160 suspected narcotics traffickers.
“This crew’s performance over the last 74 days has been nothing short of phenomenal,” Cmdr. Joshua DiPietro, commanding officer of Tampa, said in a statement.
“From qualifying several pilots, tie downs, landing safety officers, and helicopter control officers for aviation operations at the start of the patrol to seizing nearly $45 million in illicit narcotics, their teamwork during complex operations was truly impressive. They met every challenge head-on, working seamlessly with our partner agencies and international allies to disrupt transnational criminal organizations,” he continued.