Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the U.S. Coast Guard seized more than 45,000 pounds of illegal drugs in Florida.
“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,” Noem told reporters. “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,” she said, calling the seizure “unprecedented.”
“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.”
“The brave men and women of the Coast Guard do work every single day 24/7 and they do it with excellence,” she added. “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.”
