A Coast Guard cutter returned to the East Coast on Monday with more than nine tons of cocaine its crew seized from drug smugglers operating off the coasts of Central and South America over the past three months, according to the agency.

Coast Guard Cutter Tampa pulled into its home port in Portsmouth, Va., with $240 million worth of cocaine, or 18,000 pounds, on board from its mission to the eastern Pacific Ocean.

“Everyone aboard Tampa worked extremely hard throughout the patrol to ensure our success for every case that crossed our bow,” Cutter Tampa's Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Mulkey, a maritime enforcement specialist, said in a statement. “It’s truly amazing to see firsthand all of that diligence come together in preventing such a significant amount of cocaine from hitting our streets, as well as apprehending multiple smugglers in the hopes of breaking down the drug trafficking organizations."

The Coast Guard has increased its presence in international waters around northern South America and Central America because of the high amount of cocaine still being produced in the region, most notably in Colombia.

Drug seizures at sea are often made from small speedboats, which are used by smugglers because they can carry a lot inside. They're also less visible than other boats, since only a small portion is visible above water.

Over the past two years, the Cutter Tampa alone has seized 17 tons of cocaine from 17 boats.

Coast Guard Cutter Forward returned from its deployment off the east coast of Central America with $466 million worth of cocaine last month.

The Forward offloaded $466 million worth of the narcotic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Tuesday. The drugs were the result of 21 separate boat busts between cutters Forward, Hamilton, Campbell, Alert, Venturous, and Confidence — all of which were deployed to that region.