Coast Guard offloads $94.5M in illegal narcotics

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(The Center Square) – U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca crew members offloaded more than 12,750 pounds of cocaine and marijuana with an approximate street value of $94.5 million in Port Everglades, Florida. 

They also arrested 29 suspected smugglers who were transferred to federal custody as part of a successful mission, Operation Pacific Viper, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The operation involves interagency partners interdicting illicit narcotics in international waters, a gateway for cartel transport of illicit narcotics from Central and South America. 

Since Operation Pacific Viper was launched in early August, USCG crew have interdicted more than 80,000 pounds of cocaine.     

“I’m incredibly proud of the teamwork and adaptability displayed by my crew and our partners during this patrol to stop illicit drug flow from entering the United States,” Capt. Lee Jones, commander, Coast Guard Cutter Seneca, said. “Our crews sacrifice time away from their families, and when necessary, put themselves in harm’s way to secure our borders and protect the American people.” 

Seneca’s crew of 100 are homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia. 

Under the Trump administration, USCG resources were surged to implement border security, including allocating record funding to support its national security mission. The “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in July allocated an historic nearly $25 billion to strengthen the U.S. Coast Guard. The largest single funding commitment in Coast Guard history came ahead of its 235th birthday on August 4, The Center Square reported. 

In the last few months, USCG crew have played an enhanced role in interdiction, seizure and disruption of transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs. Additional USCG cutters, aircraft and tactical teams have supported a multi-agency operation to “counter narco-terrorism, disrupt foreign terrorist organizations, transnational criminal organizations and cartels seeking to produce and traffic illicit drugs into the United States.” 

USCG crew have come from all over the country to participate in high-sea interdictions, working on cutters Venturous, Hamilton, Midgett and Stone. Joint Interagency Task Force-South, based in Miami, and Coast Guard crew from the Southwest and Southeast districts also play key roles in Operation Pacific Viper.

“Detecting and interdicting narco-terrorism on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination,” the USCG explains. The Miami-based task force is responsible for using a range of technology to detect and monitor aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. 

“Once interdiction becomes imminent, 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 USCG explains. Interdictions at sea are performed Coast Guard crew led by the Southwest District, headquartered in Alameda, California.

The U.S. Coast Guard is the primary maritime defense agency in the country. It patrols more than 95,000 miles of shoreline, 25,000 miles of navigable rivers and 4.5 million square miles of U.S. exclusive economic zone. More than 55,000 members operate an interoperable fleet of more than 250 cutters, 200 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, 1,600 boats and a dedicated cyber command.