Overview
- The USCGC Munro interdicted a go-fast vessel south of Mexico and seized more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine, the biggest at-sea haul in nearly two decades and equivalent to over 7.5 million potentially lethal doses.
- Federal video shows a Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron sniper disabling the boat’s engines before the boarding, confirming the tactic used during the Operation Pacific Viper mission.
- Operation Pacific Viper, launched in August as a Coast Guard–Navy push, has accelerated Eastern Pacific counter-narcotics patrols, with the Coast Guard reporting a record ~510,000 pounds seized in fiscal year 2025.
- In a separate case off Miami, a Coast Guard Station Miami Beach crew with CBP and HSI seized about 3,715 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $28 million, the station’s largest cocaine bust since 1995, and took three people into custody.
- Oversight has intensified as senators, including Chuck Schumer, Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff and Rand Paul, introduced a war powers resolution on Venezuela and the Senate Armed Services Committee reviews recent lethal strikes, while officials say interdictions will continue.