The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded 76,140 pounds of illegal narcotics at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on 25 Aug., marking the largest single drug offload in the service’s 110-year history. The cache, brought ashore by the cutter Hamilton, is valued at roughly $473 million and comprises about 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana. According to the Coast Guard, the drugs were seized during 19 interdictions carried out between 26 June and 18 Aug. in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Maritime patrol aircraft spotted several suspected smuggling vessels, which were then intercepted by boarding teams from three Coast Guard cutters, two U.S. Navy warships and a Dutch naval vessel operating under a joint task force. Thirty-four alleged traffickers were taken into custody during the operations. Rear Admiral Adam Chamie, commander of the Coast Guard’s Southeast District, said the cocaine alone represents about 23 million potentially lethal doses—“enough to fatally overdose the entire population of Florida.” He credited close cooperation with the Department of Defense and foreign partners for the record haul, calling the operation a significant blow to transnational criminal organizations and a demonstration of the Coast Guard’s expanding counter-drug mission.