The Coast Guard seized more than 75,000 pounds of illegal narcotics, valued at $473 million, from late June to mid-August, the service announced on Monday.

The 76,140-pound haul, which was obtained in 19 different interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, included nearly 16,000 pounds of marijuana and more than 60,000 pounds of cocaine, the largest offload of the drug by the Coast Guard.

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“The U.S. Coast Guard in partnership with our federal, DoD, and international partners are offloading 61,740 pounds of cocaine and this represents a significant victory in the fight against transnational criminal organizations, highlighting our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the nation from illicit trafficking and its devastating impacts,” said Rear Adm. Adam Chamie, Coast Guard Southeast District commander.

The Coast Guard announced last week that it launched Operation Pacific Viper, a surge of forces in the Eastern Pacific to cut off drug and human smuggling before it reaches the United States. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the operation involves the “surging maritime interdictions in the Eastern Pacific to stop the cartels and criminal organizations.”

The operation’s first interdiction, included in the announcement, occurred on June 26. A maritime patrol aircraft spotted two vessels roughly 115 miles from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and seized more than 4,475 pounds of cocaine. The next day, another patrol aircraft spotted a vessel slightly further from the islands and seized 4,354 pounds of cocaine.

On June 30, another patrol aircraft spotted what appeared to be a suspicious vessel about 87 miles north of Bonair, and when a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment crew deployed on the USS Cole interdicted the vessel, it found and seized approximately 2,425 pounds of cocaine.

In addition to those interdictions, Coast Guard forces seized cocaine and marijuana from vessels off the coasts of Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Aruba, Haiti, and Curaçao in July and August.

The Trump administration has placed a larger emphasis on targeting drug cartels and smuggling in the Western Hemisphere, and its use of military force is unlike that of previous administrations.

PENTAGON DISPATCHES THREE NAVAL WARSHIPS TO LATIN AMERICA IN FIGHT AGAINST DRUG CARTELS

As a part of the new effort, the Pentagon has deployed significantly more defense resources to the waterways near Central and South America. Specifically, the department recently deployed the USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson to support the counternarcotics operation.

President Donald Trump also designated a handful of Central American cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations as a part of the administration’s effort to combat and disrupt cartel operations.