US Coast Guard seizes 6,000+ pounds of cocaine off Colombia

U.S. Coast Guard assets intercepted three drug‑smuggling vessels about 90  miles off Cartagena, Colombia, on May 8‑14, 2026. The operation, led by Cutter Tahoma and the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON), uncovered roughly 6,000 pounds (≈2.7 metric tons) of powdered cocaine valued between $45 million and $62 million. After warning shots failed, crews used disabling fire to cripple one boat’s engine and later rescued all eight suspects without injury.

The seized narcotics were off‑loaded at Port Everglades, Florida, and the interdiction was coordinated with Joint Interagency Task Force South and the Coast Guard Southeast District. The seizure adds to a record year for the service, which in 2025 seized over 511,000 pounds of cocaine, three‑times its historic average. Officials highlighted the operation as a demonstration of integrated maritime surveillance, radar, video analytics and real‑time data fusion that underpin modern counter‑narcotics missions.

The operation underscores Washington’s intensified maritime drug‑interdiction strategy in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, aiming to disrupt trans‑national cocaine trafficking routes before the drugs reach U.S. communities.