The Coast Guard cutter Munro achieved a significant milestone by seizing over 20,000 pounds of cocaine in a single drug interdiction mission. This marked the largest seizure involving a go-fast vessel for a national security cutter.
Newly released video footage shows Coast Guard forces, including a sniper from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Florida, using disabling fire against a go-fast vessel during a drug interdiction mission for Operation Pacific Viper.
The amount of cocaine confiscated in this mission, which took place in the Eastern Pacific south of Mexico, equates to more than 7.5 million potentially lethal doses, as reported by the Coast Guard.
Operation Pacific Viper, launched in August, is a collaborative effort between the Coast Guard and Navy aimed at countering the flow of illegal drugs to the US in line with President Donald Trump’s broader initiative to combat drug cartels in Latin America.
By October, the Coast Guard had seized 100,000 pounds of cocaine in the eastern Pacific Ocean under Operation Pacific Viper, averaging about 1,600 pounds of cocaine seized daily.
Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron snipers play a crucial role in disabling vessels carrying illicit drugs by targeting and shooting at their engines with rifles to incapacitate them.
Disabling these drug vessels allows other Coast Guard assets to board and seize the drugs hidden on board. Go-fast vessels are commonly used to transport drugs in the Caribbean.
The Coast Guard announced in November that they had seized nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine in fiscal year 2025, the highest amount ever confiscated by the service.
The quantity of confiscated cocaine translates to 193 million potentially lethal doses, posing a threat to more than half of the US population, according to the Coast Guard. This amount is over three times the service’s annual average of approximately 167,000 pounds of cocaine seized each year.
The Trump administration’s approach to tackling drug influx into the US has been stringent, with the designation of drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa, and others as foreign terrorist organizations in February.
Aside from Operation Pacific Viper, the Trump administration has conducted at least 22 strikes against suspected drug vessels in Latin American waters since September.
While the legality of these strikes has been questioned by lawmakers, the administration maintains the authority to carry out such attacks.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sens. Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff, and Rand Paul, introduced a war powers resolution to prevent Trump from using US armed forces in hostilities within or against Venezuela.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has indicated that the strikes against narco-boats will continue, stating, “We’ve only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they’ve been poisoning the American people.”
