Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security announced that Operation Pacific Viper has now seized over 225,000 pounds of cocaine since the campaign began in August 2025.
- The milestone was reached after the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bear interdicted two suspected smuggling vessels and recovered 7,707 pounds of cocaine over the weekend, leading to six detentions.
- Coast Guard leaders described the effort as a sustained surge of cutters, aircraft, embarked helicopter crews and tactical boarding teams concentrated in the Eastern Pacific to stop shipments from Central and South America.
- Officials translated the haul into more than 93 million 1.2-gram potentially lethal doses and noted that roughly 80 percent of U.S.-bound narcotics are intercepted at sea to underline the impact of maritime operations.
- The announcement was coupled with political messaging from DHS and Coast Guard leaders who say Pacific Viper supports the administration’s goal of disrupting transnational cartels and reducing drugs reaching American communities.