Coast Guard Confiscates Over $33 Million of Cocaine in Major Bust

The U.S. Coast Guard has made a drug bust valued at more than $33 million as part of an interdiction effort launched by the Trump administration last year.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Escanaba seized 4,510 pounds of cocaine, worth $33.9 million, while on an Easter Sunday patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, according to a Department of Homeland Security news release.

A U.S. patrol aircraft alerted the Escanaba after it spotted a suspected narco-terrorist vessel, and the crew started throwing suspected contraband overboard.

Keeping Americans SAFE.

On Easter Sunday, the @USCG Cutter Escanaba seized more than 4,510 pounds of cocaine worth $33.9 MILLION during a routine patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Thank you to these heroes for saving American lives by keeping these deadly drugs out of our…

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 9, 2026

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was launched after the contact off the coast of Ecuador.

The release said that the cutter “deployed its over-the-horizon cutter pursuit boat crew and relaunched the helicopter aircrew to recover the contraband.”

The action was part of Operation Pacific Viper.

Sustained impact through Operation Pacific Viper. @USCG Cutter Escanaba and its embarked helicopter team located and recovered a floating bale field Sunday in the Eastern Pacific, seizing over 4,500 lbs of cocaine valued at nearly $34M. That’s 1.7M potentially lethal doses that… pic.twitter.com/3tbMAnLlj4

— U.S. Coast Guard (@USCG) April 10, 2026

A 2025 news release noted that “Operation Pacific Viper is part of a wider effort ordered by President Trump to combat foreign drug cartels in Latin America.”

During the ongoing operations, “the men and women of the Coast Guard will continue deploying overwhelming force against the cartels, cutting off the flow of drugs into the United States and put an end to the cartel’s reign of terror,” the release said.

The release noted that the first 19 operations netted a total of illegal drugs worth $473 million, including 61,740 pounds of cocaine and about 14,400 pounds of marijuana.

After the most recent seizure, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that “Operation Pacific Viper plays a central part of President Trump’s fight against the cartels at sea, cutting off their ability to make money by trafficking their poison into our country.”

“This operation has already seized over 215,000 pounds of cocaine and has arrested over 160 suspected narco-traffickers. The brave men and women of the Coast Guard are saving American lives by keeping these deadly drugs out of our communities and off our streets,” he added.

The release said that the Coast Guard “has surged cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams to interdict, seize, and disrupt the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs.”

“These efforts are a critical part of the Trump administration’s strategy to fight narco-terrorism and dismantle transnational criminal organizations,” the release said.

Through Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard has taken in 215,000 pounds of cocaine and detained 160 suspected narco-traffickers.

In one November 2025 seizure, the Coast Guard cutter Stone offloaded more than 49,000 pounds of illicit drugs worth $362 million.

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