Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem celebrated a “historic” seizure of drugs headed to the United States, speaking at an event as the drugs were offloaded by the U.S. Coast Guard.
On March 20, Noem spoke at the event in Port Everglades in Southern Florida, as the U.S. Coast Guard offloaded hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs — including cocaine and marijuana — that had been seized in American coastal waters by cutter vessels. The total value of the drugs is roughly $517.5 million, according to CBS News.
“Today is a historic day,” the DHS Secretary said. “Here at Port Everglades, over 22.5 tons or 45,000 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of marijuana — 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 U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone and Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk,” Noem added.
The DHS Secretary went on to explain that the U.S. Coast Guard cutters had worked alongside helicopter tactical squadron air crews, along with several other law enforcement agencies in the Pacific region.
Noem then celebrated the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard for their hard work and dedication in seizing these drugs that would have caused devastation for American families.
“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 it does not go unnoticed,” she said.
Noem also noted that the seizure of the drugs meant that “fewer families are going to 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.”
.@Sec_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 billion… pic.twitter.com/dnVoRu8XEz
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 20, 2025
