The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, announced a major seizure of drugs.
On Thursday morning, Noem announced that the U.S. Coast Guard offloaded more than 45,000 pounds of illegal drugs valued at over $500 million at Port Everglades in Florida.
According to Noem, the crews of U.S. Coast Guard cutters Stone and Mohawk seized the drugs in 14 interdictions in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Noem said during remarks to reporters, “In the first 100 days of President Trump’s administration, he has already delivered on his campaign promises of making America safe again and to help the American people to be more secure as well.”
“And today we’re here to recognize and witness another milestone in his mission to protect our borders, to protect our communities, and to stop the flow of illicit drugs and trafficking into the United States of America.”
“Today is a historic day. Here at Port Everglades, over 22.5 tons, or 45,000 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of marijuana, are valued at over a half a billion dollars, are going to be offloaded and taken out of circulation.”
“This is an unprecedented seizure of illicit drugs that is the result of 14 different interdictions of drug smuggling vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central, and South America, by the crews of the Coast Guard Cutter Stone and Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk. They’ve done incredible work here with their crews to remove these drugs out of the system so they can be destroyed.”
“These efforts were coordinated with the helicopter tactical squadron aircrews that you see with us today as well as Tactical Team Pacific, law enforcement detachments that were involved, and partner agencies that are operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.”
“The brave men and women of the Coast Guard do work every single day 24/7 and they do it with excellence. Their dedication, their resilience, and their patriotism is something that we all can admire, and does not go unnoticed.”
“Their core mission is simple, but it’s incredibly crucial. It’s to secure our territorial waters and to safeguard our nation from those who seek to do us harm. Their mission directly aligns with President Trump’s vision to make America safe and strong again. And thanks to the Coast Guard’s relentless maritime security and their interdiction efforts, $517M worth of illegal drugs will never reach American communities here by what you see here today as a result of these weeks of work.”
“That means that fewer families will be torn apart by addiction. That fewer lives are going to be lost to overdoses. That communities will be safer, and fewer resources will be at the hands of dangerous, violent cartels that seek to do all of us harm.”
“This action is a testimony to President Trump’s commitment to delivering for the American people, and he has unwavering dedication to our military strength, to our border security, our law enforcement are producing incredible results, and his leadership is making America safe again.”
“I want to thank all of the leadership teams I have behind me, but also those that are here today that have taken part in these interdiction efforts. They’ve done incredible work.”
Watch:
Secretary Kristi Noem: “In the first 100 days of President Trump’s administration, he’s already delivered on his campaign promises to make America safe again. Here at Port Everglades, over 2.5 tons or 45,000 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of marijuana, valued at over half a… pic.twitter.com/WCvFptZsH5
— AJ Huber (@Huberton) March 20, 2025
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