The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday announced that cocaine seizures throughout Fiscal Year 2025 represent the largest amount in the service’s history.
They seized nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean during FY 2025, which started on Oct. 1, 2024 and ended on Sept. 30, 2025.
A USCG official told Military.com that the surge can be attributed to increased assets to the region, where 80 percent of narcotics are trafficked.
“The U.S. Coast Guard brings powerful authorities and unmatched capabilities as the world’s leader in maritime counter-drug law enforcement operations,” Lt. Cmdr. Steve Roth told Military.com. “To counter narco-terrorism and protect the homeland from ongoing trafficking of illicit narcotics from South and Central America, our maritime fighting force is accelerating counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
“In coordination with international and interagency partners, we are surging additional cutters, aviation assets and tactical teams to counter this deadly threat wherever it moves.”
The announcement comes as more than 30 individuals on boats have been killed since September in the Caribbean, in relative proximity to Venezuela, as the U.S. continues to ward off what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration officials have described as “narco-terrorism” that is negatively impacting Americans’ lives.
USCG, which is the United States’ lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction and part of the Department of Homeland Security, said that on average that it seizes 167,000 pounds of cocaine annually.
The amount seized the past year or so is over three times that amount, equivalent to 193 million potentially lethal doses (1.2 grams)—enough to endanger over half of the U.S. population consisting of more than 340 million people.
Officials said that detecting and interdicting narco-terrorism on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force-South, based in Key West, Florida, detects and monitors both aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs.
Once interdiction becomes imminent, officials said, then the law enforcement phase of the operation begins and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension.
“The Coast Guard’s top priority is to achieve complete operational control of the U.S. border and maritime approaches,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, said in a statement. “We own the sea, and this historic amount of cocaine seized shows we are defeating narco-terrorist and cartel operations to protect our communities and keep dangerous drugs off our streets.”
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