In what officials are calling the largest drug offload in U.S. Coast Guard history, crews in Florida on Saturday unloaded 76,140 pounds of cocaine and marijuana seized during a series of operations in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. The record-breaking haul — worth an estimated $473 million — underscores the Trump administration’s intensifying crackdown on foreign cartels through its new counter-narcotics initiative, Operation Pacific Viper.
The shipment included 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana, intercepted during 19 separate smuggling operations. Crews detained 34 suspected traffickers and removed what authorities estimate to be 23 million lethal doses of cocaine—enough to fatally overdose the entire population of Florida.
“This is a stark warning to drug cartels,” said Rear Adm. Adam Chamie, commander of Coast Guard District Seven. “The potential 23 million lethal doses seized represent the very real threat these cartels pose to our communities. The size of this shipment shows just how big the problem is, and how critical it is that we fight it at its source.”
The interdictions were anything but routine. Coast Guard cutters, tactical teams, a helicopter squadron, and even the Navy’s USS Cole were deployed in sweeping operations that also involved a Royal Netherlands Navy ship. Eleven high-speed “go-fast” vessels were stopped, often after multi-day pursuits on the open sea. Among the largest hauls were 8,800 pounds of cocaine seized near the Galápagos Islands in June and another 9,160 pounds near Socorro Island, Mexico, in July.
Officials hailed the bust as a milestone in President Trump’s broader strategy to combat the flow of drugs into the United States. Homeland Security called it a “historic partnership” that brings overwhelming naval and Coast Guard power to international waters, where 80 percent of successful drug interdictions occur. By pushing operations far offshore, the administration is attempting to choke supply lines before they can ever reach American neighborhoods.
“Cartels have long used maritime routes to flood our country with narcotics,” said Captain John McWhite of the cutter Hamilton, whose crew was central to the operation. “This mission proved that when we bring the full weight of U.S. and allied forces to bear, we can stop them in their tracks.”
The Justice Department and DEA credited the operation to a Trump directive calling for increased U.S. military involvement in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Officials emphasized that the administration’s approach reflects a shift in strategy: rather than waiting for shipments to near U.S. shores, interdictions are now focused on aggressive forward deployment in cartel hot zones.
For a nation still reeling from the opioid crisis and a rising toll of drug overdoses, the historic offload is being cast as both a victory and a warning. The size of the seizure highlights the scale of the threat facing the United States, while also sending a message that the Trump administration is willing to mobilize military and law enforcement resources at unprecedented levels to stop it.