MIAMI, USA – US Coast Guard Cutter Resolute’s crew offloaded approximately 2,570 pounds of cocaine worth more than $19.3 million and transferred six suspected drug smugglers to federal authorities, Thursday, at Base Miami Beach.
The seized contraband was the result of three interdictions in the Caribbean Sea by the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma and the crew of the USS Billings with an embarked Coast Guard law enforcement detachment.
“The success of these interdictions reflects the strength of our partnerships and the persistence of our crews,” said Cmdr. Ian Starr, Resolute’s commanding officer. “By stopping these shipments at sea, we are preventing dangerous drugs from reaching our communities and disrupting transnational criminal organisations.”
The following assets and crews were involved in the interdiction operations:
- USCGC Tahoma
- USS Billings
- Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron
- US Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team South, LEDET 405
- Joint Interagency Task Force South
- Coast Guard Southeast District watchstanders
Coast Guard Cutter Resolute’s offload continues record-setting Coast Guard operations to interdict, seize, and disrupt transshipment of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs by sea. These drugs fuel and enable cartels and transnational criminal organisations to produce and traffic illegal fentanyl, threatening the US.
This includes the Coast Guard’s seizure of over 511,000 pounds of cocaine in 2025 – over three times the Service’s annual average – as well as accelerated counter-narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific through 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 organisations billions in illicit revenue and prevented the flow of dangerous drugs into American communities.
Eighty percent of interdictions of US-bound drugs occur at sea. This underscores the importance of maritime interdiction in combatting the flow of illegal narcotics and protecting American communities from this deadly threat. Detecting and interdicting illicit drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination.
Joint Interagency Task Force South, in Key West, conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once an interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the US Coast Guard for the interdiction and apprehension phases. Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the US Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard Southeast District, headquartered in Miami.
Coast Guard Cutter Resolute is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in St Petersburg. Florida, under US Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command.