Exclusive: Coast Guard offloads enough cocaine to kill over 1.4 million Americans in Florida

The United States Coast Guard told Just The News exclusively Thursday that crew members in Florida seized and offloaded enough cocaine recently to kill more than 1.4 million Americans as part of Operation Pacific Viper.

The Coast Guard said it seized approximately 3,825 pounds of cocaine, which is worth more than $28.7 million, as part of two interdictions in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. 

"This crew's performance over the last 74 days has been nothing short of phenomenal," Cmdr. Joshua DiPietro, commanding officer of Tampa, said in a news release. 'Their teamwork during complex operations was truly impressive. They met every challenge head-on, working seamlessly with our partner agencies and international allies to disrupt transnational criminal organizations.”

The recent missions consisted of crews on Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron, a joint interagency task force and members of the Coast Guard Southeast and Southwest districts.

The military branch also noted that since the start of Operation Pacific Viper last August, the Coast Guard has seized more than 215,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehended 160 suspected narco-traffickers.

Operation Pacific Viper is part of the Trump administration's efforts to combat narco-terrorism and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.