Coast Guard offloads 1.1 tonnes of cocaine and at least 49 bales of weed dangerously close to Miami Beach

By Fusion Staff  |  September 30, 2015 | 5:24pm
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The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded 1.1 metric tons (1,100 kilograms) of cocaine and 2 metric tons (4,420 pounds) of weed onto its Miami Beach base Tuesday, amounts estimated to be worth $41 million according to a Coast Guard press release.

About half the marijuana was seized on Sept. 20, when a Coast Guard surveillance plane “located a suspicious go-fast vessel” near Isla Saona, a part of the Dominican Republic off the country’s southeast coast. A Coast Guard cutter responded to the report and intercepted the vessel. While the suspects were able to dump four packages into the water, multiple packages remained onboard. Three suspects aboard the go-fast boat were taken into custody. The 49 parcels of marijuana weighed in at 2,450 pounds.

Here’s some footage of the offloading at the Coast Guard’s base off MacArthur Causeway, the roadway most notoriously known as the site of the “zombie” bath salt attack of 2012.

The drugs were then removed to a DEA processing center.

A Coast Guard rep said he could not discuss details of the the two other cases that produced the cocaine and the other half of the weed.

Since October 2014, the Coast Guard has removed 130 metric tons of coke ($4.3 billion), the most since 2008. Nearly 500 smugglers in more than 200 cases have been prosecuted and 135 vessels seized, both record highs. These numbers include seizures on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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