More than 33,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $468 million was offloaded by the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday in San Diego.

Officials say the drugs were seized through eight separate smuggling vessel interdictions in February and March of this year.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro, which offloaded the cocaine on Tuesday, seized the drugs from vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America.

Rear Admiral Andrew Sugimoto, commander of Coast Guard District 11, said in a statement, “I am extremely proud of this crew and their dedication to disrupting organized crime in the Eastern Pacific. The effort put in while interdicting more than 33,000 lbs of cocaine in a few weeks’ time is unparalleled.”

The seizures took place on:

• Feb. 21, 3,946 lbs of cocaine seized
• Feb. 24, 3,803 lbs of cocaine seized
• Feb. 26, 3,108 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 10, 4,709 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 17, 7,852 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 18, 2,841 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 18, 2,841 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 23, 4,784 lbs of cocaine seized

“The crew put in an incredible amount of work over very long hours, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Capt. Rula Deisher, Coast Guard Cutter Munro’s commanding officer. “Their dedication and grit goes to show that Munro is one of the best national security cutters in the fleet, and we are committed to keeping the country safe by stopping illegal drugs before they hit the street.”

City News Service contributed to this article.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says that CBP officers confiscated more than 14,000 pounds of hard narcotics worth tens of millions of dollars at California ports of entry in November.

In a press release, the agency said it seized 347 pounds of fentanyl, 22 pounds of heroin, 3,117 pounds of cocaine, and 10,609 pounds of methamphetamine in 182 separate incidents.

“Our dedicated workforce is committed to protecting American communities from these devastating drugs,” said CBP’s San Diego director of field operations, Sidney Aki.

CBP said that it also confiscated the vehicles used to smuggle drugs.

The drug seizures follow the announcements of Operation Apollo and the CBP Strategy to Combat Fentanyl and Other Drugs.

Clay pots, jicama and furniture all had one thing in common for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Otay Mesa’s cargo facility; they were used to conceal more than $15 million worth of different types of narcotics.

The first seizure occurred on the afternoon of Feb. 14, when a 39-year-old male driver of a 2006 truck applied for admission into the United States at Otay Mesa’s cargo facility.

The driver presented a valid entry document and declared a shipment manifested as furniture. After initial examination, CBP officers referred the driver and truck for further inspection.

During inspection, a CBP detector dog screening the truck, alerted CBP officers to the presence of narcotics in the cargo area carrying the furniture. Further inspection led to the discovery and removal of 69 packages of methamphetamine, weighing approximately 515.04 pounds, three packages of fentanyl pills, weighing approximately 23.28 pounds, and two packages of cocaine, weighing approximately 10.80 pounds.

On Feb. 16, a second seizure occurred just after 10 a.m., when a 44-year-old male driver of a 2012 tractor trailer applied for entry into the United States by presenting a valid travel document and a manifest for a shipment of clay pots. CBP officers referred the driver and tractor trailer for further inspection. During a detailed inspection, officers discovered 132 packages of marijuana weighing approximately 1,472 pounds concealed inside the clay pots.

Also on Feb. 16, just after 6 p.m., CBP officers encountered a seizure when a 24-year-old male driver of a red 2013 tractor-trailer applied for admission into the United States. The driver presented officers a valid entry document and a manifest for 880 boxes of fresh jicama. CBP officers referred the driver and his tractor/trailer for further inspection after noticing several packages commingled within the shipment of jicama.

During inspection, a CBP detector dog screened the boxes of jicamas and alerted officers to the presence of narcotics. After a detailed inspection, CBP officers discovered 1,219 packages of methamphetamine from the boxes of jicamas that weighed approximately 2,180 pounds.

A total of 1,425 packages containing narcotics were seized with estimated street value of $15.4 million. 

CBP officers turned the drivers over to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations for final disposition. 

The vehicles and narcotics were seized by CBP officers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego field office announced this week that the total amount of narcotics seized at Southern California ports of entry this past fiscal year decreased from the previous year.

The statistics released this week accounted for drugs seized through Sept. 30 at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexico, Andrade and the San Diego air and seaports of entry.

Despite the 38% reduction in overall drugs seized, CBP officials said more than 50 tons of illegal drugs were discovered at the ports of entry, including more than 6,700 pounds of fentanyl and over 86,000 pounds of methamphetamine. Though there was a decrease for most substances seized at the border, the 6,704 pounds of fentanyl represents a 5% increase over the previous year.

CBP said its California border port seizures account for more than half of the fentanyl and methamphetamine seized at ports of entry nationwide, and about half of all heroin seizures.

Jennifer De La O, CBP Director of Field Operations in San Diego, said in a statement, “It is evident from these statistics that CBP officers are the front-line of stopping these dangerous narcotics from entering the U.S.”

During the 2022 fiscal year, more than 29 million passenger vehicles were inspected by border officers in San Diego and Imperial counties, along with more than 1.5 million trucks, nearly 19,000 buses and around 16 million people entering the United States on foot.

City News Service contributed to this article.