The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded more than $69 million worth of cocaine and marijuana at Port Everglades, Florida, on Tuesday 4 April 2023.[1] The haul came from the interdiction of four go-fast smuggling boats by the destroyer USS Farragut.[1] The crew seized 1,986 pounds of marijuana, about 901 kilograms of cannabis, alongside 2,314 kilograms of cocaine.[1] The Coast Guard put the combined value of the cocaine and marijuana at $69 million, not a marijuana-only figure.[1]

The Coast Guard said the suspected smugglers will be prosecuted in federal court by the Department of Justice.[2] The seizures were made by the Farragut crew with an embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 406 and Navy Combat Element One from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Six Zero, the “Jaguars”, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.[2] Commander Nicholas Gurley, commanding officer of the Farragut, said his crew, HSM-60 CEL One and the members of their LEDET were essential to the success of the operation.[1] Numerous agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security worked with the Coast Guard, along with allied and international partners.[2]

The fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific is coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South, based in Key West.[1] The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the Eleventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, California, and the boardings are led by Coast Guard members.[2] CBS12 reported the offload took place on 4 April 2023.[3]