US Coast Guard seizes 2,450 pounds of cocaine worth $32.2 million in Caribbean Sea

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell crew members intercepted over 2,450 pounds of cocaine valued at about $32.2 million in the Caribbean Sea.

It was offloaded in Miami on Tuesday.

The narcotics were seized in international waters in two separate cases, with assistance from Cutter Richard Nixon, Cutter Dauntless and the Joint Interagency Task Force South.

Also taken into custody were six suspected smugglers, who now face prosecution by the Department of Justice in federal court.

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"Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Coast Guard crews and agency partners involved with this interdiction, Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell brought these suspected smugglers and illicit contraband ashore for prosecution," Lt. Cmdr. Colin Weaver said. "Coast Guard crews continue to deliver on our important missions of homeland and maritime security to save lives and thwart transnational criminal organizations operating in the Caribbean."

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The Coast Guard said the operations were part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) designated investigations.

The task force goes after high-level criminal organizations that pose a threat to the U.S. by identifying, disrupting and dismantling them using a multi-agency approach involving prosecutors.

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The detection and monitoring of maritime and aerial drug trafficking is conducted by the Joint Interagency Task Force in Key West, Florida.

The Coast Guard said when an interdiction is imminent, the military branch takes over the law enforcement phase, where it intercepts the drug traffickers and apprehends them.