MIAMI, United States (CMC) – The United States Coast Guard said it has offloaded an estimated 19,055 pounds of cocaine and marijuana with a street value of US$140.9 million, at Port Everglades in Southern Florida.

It said the drugs were seized in five interdictions in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea by interagency partners.

“The resulting criminal investigations are linked to substantial amounts of transnational criminal organisations, including the foreign terrorist organisation, Tren de Aragua,” The US Coast Guard said.

It said that, on April 12, the crew of its cutter, Calhoun, detected a suspicious fishing vessel in international waters exhibiting behaviour consistent with narcotic trafficking about 1,200 miles west of Las Palmas, Canary Islands and seized about 10,000 pounds of cocaine.

The Coast Guard said that, on May 1, a military patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel about 100 miles off Colombia and the Coast Guard deployed the USS Minneapolis Saint Paul vessel, seizing about 1,500 pounds of cocaine.

On May 5, the Calhoun’s crew interdicted the vessel, seizing about 825 pounds of cocaine.

The US Coast Guard said the crew interdicted a suspicious vessel about 85 miles off Haiti, seizing about 3,135 pounds of cocaine and 14 pounds of marijuana. The next day, the US Coast Guard said a military patrol aircraft located two suspicious vessels about 155 miles off the Dominican Republic.

“I’m incredibly proud of Calhoun’s role in continuing to disrupt the flow of illicit narcotics,” said Captain Matthew Hammond, Calhoun’s commanding officer.

“The Coast Guard and our partners work tirelessly to deny drug trafficking organisations access to smuggling routes bound for the United States and dismantle transnational criminal activity abroad, which threatens Americans here at home,” he added.