Video Shows What $2 Billion Worth of Seized Cocaine Looks Like

Authorities seized 26 tons of cocaine valued at $2 billion being shipped from South America.

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Approximately $2 billion worth of cocaine has been seized from ships en route to the U.S. from South America. Over the course of 10 weeks, the U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy worked together to seize 27 shipments and five bales of cocaine that weighed more than 26 tons in total, according to CNN.

In a video from CBS above, you can see just how much cocaine makes up 26 tons is as the camera pans over giant cloth-wrapped bales of the stuff. The drugs, which authorities say were being shipped from South America’s Andean Ridge, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, were unloaded at a port in South Florida. A photo by also captured the huge haul:

Vice Adm. Karl Schultz, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, reportedly said the estimated wholesale value of the cocaine mass was $715 million dollars, which would have sold for about $2 billion on the streets of America had it not been seized by the U.S. and Canadian authorities.

Approximately 100 suspected drug smugglers were also apprehended by the Coast Guard in connection with the cocaine shipments and were handed over to federal authorities, according to reports.

In a statement published by CNN, Vice Adm. Karl Schultz​ said, "This not only showcases the threat posed by dangerous cartels, gangs and criminal groups that make up extensive transitional [sic] organized crime networks, but it also highlights the commitment of the Coast Guard and its inter-agency partners...to detect, interdict, investigate and prosecute operatives for these criminal networks."

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