MIAMI -- The U.S. Coast Guard seized more than 75,000 pounds (34,000 kilograms) of illegal drugs this summer from boats far out to sea in the Pacific and Caribbean, which the service called its largest-ever haul worth nearly half a billion dollars.

The drugs came from 19 interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, with locations ranging from the Galapagos Islands to areas off Venezuela, Mexico, and other countries.

A US Coast Guard cutter on Monday unloaded a record haul of illegal drugs in Florida that, if it had made it to the streets, could yield 23 million deadly doses of cocaine, the service said.