June 16, 2026
The US Coast Guard cocaine bust record has been shattered an 18-year record by seizing 22,052 pounds of cocaine worth over $250 million from a single vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean — the largest single-vessel maritime drug bust since 2008 and the biggest in the history of the Coast Guard’s tactical helicopter unit.
Six suspected drug smugglers were arrested during the operation, which culminated in a helicopter disabling the fleeing vessel’s engine with gunfire after a high-speed pursuit across open water.
The California-based Coast Guard cutter Munro made the announcement upon returning from a 119-day deployment that began in November last year. Crew members spotted a go-fast smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific and launched an immediate pursuit, deploying a Scan Eagle surveillance drone alongside an MH-65 helicopter from the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron. After warning shots failed to stop the vessel, the helicopter disabled its engine, ending the chase.
“This crew rose to every new challenge thrown at them with professionalism and persistence, and they achieved historic results,” said Captain Jim O’Mara, the cutter’s commanding officer. “This was a one-of-a-kind deployment for us, but it is also just one part of a much broader campaign and US national strategy.”
O’Mara acknowledged the strain a 119-day deployment places on families back home. “Our families had to adapt to each new twist, just like all military families do across the Armed Forces. It is tough on them. But when they hold strong at home that keeps us motivated and focused on our mission.”
The bust is part of a sustained surge in Coast Guard counter-narcotics operations. In 2025 alone, the service seized more than 511,000 pounds of cocaine — more than three times its annual average — while Operation Pacific Viper has resulted in the seizure of over 215,000 pounds of cocaine and the apprehension of 160 suspected traffickers since the operation launched. The Coast Guard’s largest-ever single offload came in August 2025, when the USCGC Hamilton brought in over 76,000 pounds of drugs valued at $473 million.
Roughly 80% of all interdictions of US-bound drugs occur at sea, making maritime operations the critical frontline in disrupting cocaine flows from South and Central America. Cartels have deployed go-fast boats, semi-submersible narco-submarines, and concealed commercial shipping containers to move multi-tonne loads northward — but open-ocean interceptions leave traffickers with no safe harbour and no legal refuge.
Operation Pacific Viper was launched under the Trump administration as a dedicated surge in counter-narcotics operations across the Eastern Pacific, the primary corridor through which cocaine produced in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia moves northward toward American shores.
The operation has deployed additional cutters, aircraft and tactical interdiction teams to patrol shipping lanes previously exploited with near-impunity by cartel-linked trafficking networks. Go-fast boats — low-profile, high-powered vessels capable of outrunning conventional patrol craft — have long been the weapon of choice for traffickers moving bulk cocaine loads across open water.
Semi-submersible narco-submarines, designed to run just below the surface to avoid radar detection, have also been intercepted in growing numbers. The Munro’s deployment, combining drone surveillance with helicopter interdiction, represents the kind of multi-layered tactical response that has made Operation Pacific Viper one of the most effective maritime counter-narcotics campaigns in Coast Guard history. Since the operation launched, trafficking networks have lost billions in revenue to seizures — losses that analysts say are beginning to disrupt cartel supply chains at the source. Its all about the money.
The six suspects arrested face federal charges under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, which allows US authorities to prosecute drug trafficking on the high seas regardless of the vessel’s flag or nationality.
