The United States Coast Guard announced on Thursday it seized nearly 510,000 pounds (231,000 kilograms) of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean during the 2025 fiscal year. This is described as the largest amount seized in the service’s history.
The amount seized in FY2025 is over three times the service's annual average of 167,000 pounds and is equivalent to 193 million "potentially lethal doses".
"The coast guard’s top priority is to achieve complete operational control of the US border and maritime approaches," said Admiral Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the US Coast Guard.
"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.”
The coast guard remarked that detecting and interdicting drugs on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination.
US Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force-South detects and monitors the transit of illegal drugs. The coast guard, which is the United States’ lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction, then takes control of the law enforcement phase of the operation.