Coast Guard Intercept Drugs Worth Nearly Half-Billion Dollars

A staggering amount of illegal narcotics have been smuggled into the United States since the Biden administration implemented its lax border policies.

While a large quantity of these drugs have made it into communities nationwide, exacerbating an ongoing overdose epidemic, the men and women tasked with protecting America’s borders have been able to seize some large shipments intended to be sold domestically.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, crew members based on the U.S.C.G. Cutter James in South Florida facilitated the confiscation of about $448 million worth of drugs in more than a dozen separate missions. 

In addition to Coast Guard resources on the James, Thetis, Vigilant and Valiant cutters, the Joint Interagency Task Force South, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies assisted in the operation.

“This offload is about national security,” Coast Guard Atlantic Area Vice Admiral Kevin Lunday explained in a statement announcing the confiscation. “It represents one part of a very large and strong interagency team that works closely with our allies and international partners to interdict maritime smuggling of dangerous and illegal drugs into the United States.”

A media release from the Coast Guard 7th District indicated that those working on the James “worked round the clock” for nearly four months.

“That being said, we cannot do this mission alone,” added Capt. Donald Terkanian, the cutter’s commanding officer. “We appreciate the immense support and dedication from our interagency and international partners that join us here today.”

The James crew prevented more than $1 billion worth of drugs during an operation early last year in international waters at Port Everglades, which was where the more recent missions were based.

A number of prominent Republicans have directly blamed President Joe Biden for allowing the unfettered flow of illegal drugs — particularly across the porous U.S.-Mexican border — over the course of the past three years.

In response to a State of the Union address during which Biden called for action to thwart the influx of fentanyl, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan said: “It’s simply incredible that the Biden administration has the audacity to highlight fentanyl poisoning and other drug overdoses as a national crisis when their policies have been central to causing that crisis in the first place.”