During fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard seized a record nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean. The amount is the equivalent of 193 million potentially lethal doses of 1.2 grams.
The Coast Guard is the United States’ lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction and works as part of a Department of Homeland Security team. The yearly average for cocaine seizures is 167,000 pounds.
“The Coast Guard’s top priority is to achieve complete operational control of the U.S. border and maritime approaches,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, Coast Guard acting commandant, said. “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.”
In order to detect and interdict narco-terrorism on the high seas, there must be significant interagency and international coordination. The U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force-South, based in Key West, Fla., detects and monitors aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. The law enforcement phase of the operation begins once interdiction becomes imminent and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard patrols more than 95,000 miles of shoreline, including 25,000 miles of navigable rivers.