Coast Guard’s record-breaking cocaine haul in 2025 could have poisoned half the US
The Coast Guard seized almost 510,000 pounds of cocaine in fiscal year 2025 — marking the largest amount of the drug snatched in the service’s entire history.
The increase in cocaine confiscation comes as the Coast Guard has launched several key initiatives in recent months as part of President Donald Trump’s larger effort to crack down on drug cartels.
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The amount the service seized translates to 193 million potentially lethal doses — enough to jeopardize more than half of the U.S. population, according to the Coast Guard. Additionally, it amounts to more than three times the service’s annual average, which comes out to roughly 167,000 pounds of cocaine each year.
“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 to Fox News Digital. “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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The Coast Guard has launched multiple high-profile operations to advance Trump’s crusade against drugs. In August, the Coast Guard launched Operation Pacific Viper, a joint effort between the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy aimed at countering the influx of illegal drugs to the U.S.
As of October, the Coast Guard reported it had confiscated 100,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since August under Operation Pacific Viper, averaging 1,600 pounds of cocaine daily, according to the service.
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Additionally, the service announced it would beef up its forces along Texas’ Rio Grande river to support Trump’s border security mission and to curb the flow of drugs into the country as part of a “surge operation.” Known as Operation River Wall, the service said that it would send additional response boats, shallow watercraft, command and control assets, and tactical teams to the area to support the operation.
The second Trump administration has taken aggressive steps to mitigate the flow of drugs into the U.S., and designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa and others as foreign terrorist organizations in February.
Likewise, the White House issued lawmakers a memo Sept. 30 notifying them that the U.S. is participating in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug smugglers, and has conducted more than 15 strikes against vessels off the coast of Venezuela and in the Eastern Pacific.
However, lawmakers have questioned the legality of these strikes, and Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a war powers resolution prohibiting U.S. armed forces from engaging in “hostilities” against Venezuela.
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