The US Coast Guard made record-breaking drug busts in both the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans in recent days. And, although shots were fired in at least one of the pursuits, no smugglers were reported killed or injured.
Let’s begin in the Eastern Pacific, where the Alameda, California-based US Coast Guard Cutter Munro seized more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine from a single ship last week. That’s the largest Coast Guard drug interdiction in more than 18 years.
The cartel smugglers piloting the drug-smuggling boat didn’t give up easily. They tried to outrun the Coast Guard vessels and aircraft that were pursuing them.
A gunner aboard the Coast Guard helicopter ended the drug-runners’ ill-advised escape attempt by shooting out the boat’s engines. After that, Coast Guard boarding parties from small boats involved in the pursuit were able to take control of the craft, arrest the smugglers, and seize all the cocaine aboard.
The Coast Guard Cutter Munro, which directed this interdiction, is assigned to “Operation Pacific Viper”, targeting cartel drug smugglers with great success.
In the Atlantic, a U.S. Coast Guard Station Miami Beach law enforcement boat crew, along with US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Agents, seized 3,715 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $28 million, from a drug smuggling boat two miles east of Government Cut, on December 2, 2025.
This was the largest cocaine seizure by a Coast Guard small boat station in 30 years.
The cocaine - worth more than $28 million - was found hidden throughout the boat in more than 1,000 packages. The Coast Guard and CBP Agents brought in K-9s to help root out all the cocaine once the vessel was escorted to a secure dock.
Three people aboard the high-end pleasure craft used in this drug-smuggling attempt were taken into federal custody. The boat was seized.
“Disrupting maritime narcotics smuggling like this demonstrates the power of teamwork in safeguarding our nation and holding criminals accountable,” said US Customs & Border Protection’s Andy Blanco. “Smugglers should be warned that (we are) watching, and they will be caught.”
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Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
