ANDROS ISLAND, Bahamas (CMC) — The United States Coast Guard says it collaborated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bahamian authorities in eradicating more than 200,000 illegal marijuana plants in the Bahamas.

On Friday, the US Coast Guard said that “a Coast Guard forward deployed MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Operation Bahamas, Turks & Caicos recognised what appeared to be a strong smell of marijuana while flying over Andros Island on a joint narcotic interdiction patrol” earlier this month.

“The Coast Guard helicopter transported United States DEA agents and Royal Bahamas Police Force Officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit to the area to identify and eradicate over 200,000 marijuana plants,” the statement said.

The US Coast Guard said Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos is an international operation between the US, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos governments to “identify, disrupt and dismantle illicit smugglers transiting through the Bahamas.”