VIRGINIA, USA (CMC) — The United States Coast Guard says it has seized more than US$15 million worth of illegal drugs during a two-month patrol in the western and central Caribbean Sea.

It said that more than 124 kilograms of cocaine and 3,000 pounds of marijuana had been seized by the crew of the Cutter Forward, which returned to its base at Portsmouth, Virginia, on Sunday.

The coast guard said these counter-drug interdictions were carried out as part of Operation Martillo, an international detection, monitoring and interdiction operation bringing together air, land, and maritime assets from the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Homeland Security, and Western Hemisphere and European partner nation agencies, known as Joint Interagency Task Force South.

During this operation, the coast guard said the Cutter Forward worked jointly with several nations in the central Caribbean that included The Bahamas, Honduras, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.