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Medication price greater than $1bn (£730m), which have been seized throughout US operations off the coast of South America, have been unloaded on to land.
Over 30 tons of cocaine and marijuana have been introduced again to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by the coastguard cutter ship James following a months-long deployment.
It was one of many greatest hauls in latest historical past and reveals how the coastguard is utilizing more and more refined strategies reminiscent of drones and infrared cameras which might detect warmth from small cocaine-laden vessels.
Nevertheless it additionally highlights a latest narcotics surge from Colombia, which is an in depth US ally and the world’s prime cocaine producer.
Officers from President Biden’s administration travelled to Florida on Thursday to welcome the crew again.
“We’re hitting the drug traffickers the place it hits them most: their pocketbooks,” stated Dr Rahul Gupta, head of the White Home’s Workplace of Nationwide Drug Management Coverage.
Mr Gupta stated the Biden administration is making an attempt to extend the federal government’s price range to construct up the nation’s dependancy remedy infrastructure and scale back the availability of artificial opioids, like fentanyl and different medicine.
The latest drug busts by the coastguard, federal police and associate nations point out the movement of cocaine coming from Latin America has not eased since Richard Nixon declared a battle on medicine.
Coca cultivation in Colombia in 2020 elevated to 245,000 hectares (945 sq. miles), which is sufficient to produce 1,010 metric tonnes of cocaine, in keeping with the White Home’s newest report on harvesting traits.
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