DOJ and Coast Guard seize more than $500M in cartel drugs

• Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel say the Coast Guard recently seized more than $500 million in drugs during an 11-day operation. They interdicted 45,000 pounds of raw, uncut cocaine and 3,000 pounds of marijuana.
• Bondi says the drugs are “heavily tied” to the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación.
• Since February, the Coast Guard has seized more than 59 tons of narcotics bound for the U.S. and other places.

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The Department of Justice and the U.S. Coast Guard stopped more than half a billion dollars worth of drugs from coming into the country, according to officials.

What do we know?

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel joined Coast Guard members at Port Everglades in Florida on Wednesday, April 9, to announce the seizure of almost 45,000 pounds of cocaine and 3,800 pounds of marijuana.

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The drugs were worth a combined $500 million.

“What does the number besides the dollar sign mean?” said Coast Guard Vice Adm. Nathan Moore during Wednesday’s press conference. “It means 154 lives saved directly from cocaine-related overdose deaths in this country. It means that there’s almost 11,000 less new cocaine users that are gonna get access to the drugs. It means that we’ve saved at least $16.5 million on costs related to inmate care and health care for people afflicted with these drugs.”

What groups were involved with the drugs?

Bondi said the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) are “heavily tied” to the drugs, which the Coast Guard interdicted during an 11-day-long operation. Both cartels have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

Bondi said 11 people were arrested during this recent operation and are now facing prosecution.

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Part of a bigger problem

Vice Adm. Moore said just since February, the Coast Guard has seized more than 59 metric tons of narcotics.