$19M in Caribbean Cocaine Bust

A.J. Pike

Miami, FL - The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) offloaded approximately 2,570 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $19.3 million at Base Miami Beach FL. The significant seizure was the result of three separate interdictions in the Caribbean Sea.   

The bust was part of a broader record-setting effort by the USCG to disrupt maritime drug trafficking coming into the U.S. through various corridors in the Caribbean. In 2025, the service seized over 511,000 pounds of cocaine, which is more than three times the typical annual average. 

The busts were carried out by the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma and the USS Billings, while the USCG Cutter offloaded the drugs in Miami. Working together, crews continue to track down and stop vessels believed to be smuggling drugs through Caribbean waters. Six suspected drug smugglers were arrested in the raids and turned over to federal authorities. In one of the raids, a suspicious vessel was detected 290 miles south of the Dominican Republic, about halfway to Aruba, when it was tracked down and intercepted. 

A wide range of Coast Guard and military assets played a role in the operations, including helicopter crews, tactical law enforcement teams, and watchstanders coordinating from shore. Officials say that this kind of coordination is essential as traffickers continue to rely on maritime routes to move large quantities of drugs. Detecting suspect vessels often starts with the joint interagency Task Force South in Key West, FL, which conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is under the authority and control of the Coast Guard’s Southwest District, headquartered in Alameda, California, whereby Coast Guard crews are ordered to move in and intercept.

“This is what strong teamwork looks like,” said Cmdr. Ian Starr, Commanding Officer of the Resolute. “Stopping drug shipments at sea is one of the most effective ways to keep illegal narcotics out of U.S. communities and disrupt the criminal networks behind them.”  

The offloading by the Resolute occurred just a week after the Cutter Tampa offloaded 3,825 pounds of cocaine valued at $28.7 million, the result of two interdictions  during a 74-day patrol in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. In February 2026, the Coast Guard crew of the USCG Seneca also offloaded 17,750 pounds of cocaine valued at over $133.5 million, in Port Everglades, FL, resulting from interdictions carried out between January 25 and 31, 2026.

Eighty percent of interdictions of U.S.-bound drugs occur at sea.