DOJ, Coast Guard bust $500 million in cocaine tied to cartels

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Coast Guard busted 45,000 pounds of cocaine with a value of over $500 million, according to top DOJ officials on Wednesday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel were at Port Everglades in Florida on Wednesday and said the seizures of the drugs saved lives and protected the public.

"We have saved thousands and thousands of lives as a result of this incredible cooperation," Bondi said. "We believe two cartels, CJNG and Sinaloa, were heavily tied to these shipments."

She added that the Coast Guard used "drones, aircraft and ships to interdict the traffickers."

Patel had a message for the cartels: There is new leadership throughout the DOJ.

"We are going to dismantle the 'next-man-up' theory that has been breeding in these Mexican cartels for generations," Patel said of the Mexican drug cartels. "No more."

The Coast Guard said the operation took 11 days for the crew of the Unites States Coast Guard Cutter James and that finding drug traffickers in their patrol area is like "finding a needle in a haystack."

Bondi noted that 11 people were arrested in connection with the operation.

Patel said it was an interagency effort with Coast Guard, Department of Defense and DOJ assets at play.

U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Nathan Moore told reporters that since February, the Coast Guard has seized over 59 metric tons of narcotics.