Exclusive: Coast Guard Sets Record for Sea Drug Seizures

The U.S. Coast Guard set a record for the annual amount of drugs seized at sea, Newsmax has learned.

The Coast Guard intercepted nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine from October 2024 through last month — the largest haul in the service's history, Newsmax National Security Correspondent Carla Babb reported Thursday.

The estimated street value of the seizures is $3.8 billion, representing roughly 193 million potential doses of narcotics stopped before reaching U.S. communities.

A Coast Guard source told Babb that the seized total triples the average annual seizure amount and surpasses the previous record set in 2017 during President Donald Trump's first term by roughly 55,000 pounds.

News of the achievement comes as Coast Guard members continue working without pay during the government shutdown.

With the Trump administration having stopped the migrant crisis at the southern border left behind by former President Joe Biden, the source told Babb the Coast Guard surged resources to the Caribbean region this year to focus on maritime trafficking.

Officials credited operations such as "Pacific Viper," launched in August, for much of the success. That mission alone accounted for roughly 100,000 pounds of cocaine seized in its first two months.

The Coast Guard's surge in maritime interdictions comes amid renewed focus from the Trump administration on securing the nation's borders and cutting off cartel revenue streams.

Analysts say the shift of resources toward sea routes highlights how traffickers adapt as land enforcement tightens and how the Coast Guard has responded in kind.

Still, Babb noted that Coast Guard officials caution there is "a lot of room for improvement."

The U.S. military has long estimated that it can intercept only 10% to 15% of all illegal drugs bound for the country.

According to Babb's source, the Coast Guard's record-setting year focused primarily on cocaine, and no fentanyl was interdicted at sea.

Officials said fentanyl is typically trafficked in smaller, more concealable quantities across the land border.

"The best way to stop fentanyl," one official said, "is to hit the cartels where it hurts — their cash flow from cocaine production."

The Coast Guard's record-breaking effort reflects enhanced coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and the Navy — and reinforces Trump's argument that strong border enforcement on land and at sea is essential to U.S. security.

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• Coast Guard Intercepts 50 Tons of Cocaine in the Pacific