U.S. Coast Guard Opens Fire On Vessels Carrying Cocaine

The U.S. Coast Guard made a huge seizure on Thursday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard seized several tons of cocaine valued at over $45 million on vessels off the coast of Colombia.

The seizure, however, did not come without gunfire.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, after several vessels attempted to flee from a Coast Guard helicopter, personnel opened fire on the vessels’ engines.

CBS News provided the full scoop on the seizure:

The crew of a U.S. Coast Guard ship simultaneously intercepted three boats carrying illicit drugs in the Caribbean Sea, seizing over three tons of cocaine and stopping what the agency called a “triple threat,” officials said Thursday.

The crew of the Tahoma, a 270-foot cutter, made the interdictions about 90 miles off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia, the Coast Guard said in a news release. To catch all three alleged drug boats at once, the crew of the Tahoma launched two small boats and deployed a helicopter.

The alleged smugglers aboard the boat pursued by the helicopter were “non-compliant,” the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard aircrew used “aerial use of force tactics, including precision sniper fire directed at the engines” to stop the boat. The alleged smugglers jumped overboard and were rescued by the Coast Guard with no reported injuries.

Video shared by the Coast Guard showed a member of the aircrew strafing the area in front of the vessel with gunfire, then throwing rescue floats to the alleged smugglers after they jumped overboard.

The alleged smugglers in the other two boats stopped when ordered to do so by the Coast Guard crew members in small boats.

The Coast Guard did not say how many people were taken into custody during the operation or if the alleged smugglers aboard the three boats were working together.

The Tahoma’s crew seized 6,085 pounds of cocaine from the three vessels, officials said. The drugs are worth about $45 million, the agency said, and will be offloaded by the ship’s crew at Port Everglades in Florida.

Here’s a video of the Coast Guard in action:

Relentless operations to stop narco-terrorism.@USCGSoutheast crews aboard CGC Tahoma and an embarked helicopter seized approximately 6,085 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $45.8 million Saturday after stopping three vessels off the coast of Colombia. The interdiction required… pic.twitter.com/5unto8ycBr

— U.S. Coast Guard (@USCG) May 14, 2026

Under the Trump administration, the Coast Guard has had major success in seizing illicit drugs.

In April, the Coast Guard announced it seized enough cocaine that had the potential to kill over 1 million Americans.

Read the Coast Guard’s press release below:

On Thursday at Base Miami Beach, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa’s crew offloaded approximately 3,825 pounds of cocaine worth more than $28.7 million and enough to kill more than 1.4 million Americans

The seized contraband was the result of two interdictions in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean through Operation Pacific Viper.

“This crew’s performance over the last 74 days has been nothing short of phenomenal,” said Cmdr. Joshua DiPietro, commanding officer of Tampa. “From qualifying several pilots, tie downs, Landing Safety Officers, and Helicopter Control Officers for aviation operations at the start of the patrol to seizing nearly $45 million in illicit narcotics, their teamwork during complex operations was truly impressive. They met every challenge head-on, working seamlessly with our partner agencies and international allies to disrupt transnational criminal organizations.”

Since its inception under President Donald J. Trump, Operation Pacific Viper has accelerated counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific, a primary corridor for narcotics smuggling from Central and South America. The Coast Guard has surged cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams to interdict, seize, and disrupt the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs.

These efforts are a critical component of the broader U.S. strategy to combat narco-terrorism and dismantle transnational criminal organizations. Under the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin the men and women of the Coast Guard will continue deploying overwhelming force against the cartels, cutting off the flow of drugs into the United States, and putting an end to the cartel’s reign of terror.

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Recent operations have highlighted the effectiveness of this approach, including record-setting interdictions. In February, the Coast Guard marked a significant achievement by seizing 200,000 pounds of cocaine, underscoring the sustained effectiveness of Operation Pacific Viper. Since launching this operation in early August, the Coast Guard has seized over 215,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehended 160 suspected narco-traffickers. The Coast Guard’s persistent operations and rapid response have denied criminal organizations billions in illicit revenue and prevented the flow of dangerous drugs into American communities.