The U.S. Coast Guard continues to break records in drug interdiction efforts as part of their role in Trump administration border security operations.
On Thursday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials announced the result of 14 interdictions by USCG crews of cutters Stone and Mohawk at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale. The crews seized more than 22.5 tons of drugs: 45,000 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of marijuana were offloaded on Thursday at Port Everglades.
“The brave men and women of the coast guard do work every single day 24/7 and they do it with excellence,” Noem said. “Their dedication, their resilience and their patriotism is something that we all can admire and does not go unnoticed. Their core mission is simple but it’s incredibly crucial: it’s to secure our territorial waters and to safeguard our nation from those who seek to do us harm.
“Their mission directly aligns with President Donald Trump’s vision to ‘Make America Safe and Strong Again,’ and thanks to the Coast Guard’s relentless maritime security and their interdiction efforts, $517 million worth of illegal drugs will never reach American communities by what you see today as a result of weeks of work. That means fewer families are going to be torn apart by addiction, that fewer lives are going to be lost to overdoses, that communities will be safer, and fewer resources will be at the hands of dangerous violent cartels that seek to do all of us harm.”
Noem was joined by USCG Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday, Joint Interagency Task Force South Deputy Director Rear Adm. Joshua Lasky and Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Cutter Stone Capt. Jonathan Carter. The USCG is part of DHS; the U.S. Navy is also supporting USCG interdiction efforts.
The cutters were involved in a multi-week operation with embarked Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron aircrews and Tactical Law Enforcement Team-Pacific law enforcement detachment. They were involved in interdiction efforts, working with partner agencies in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
In one interdiction effort, USCG Cutter Stone’s embarked Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron aircrew detected a suspicious vessel approximately 270 miles off the coast of Ecuador on March 10. In addition to seizing the drugs, they also apprehended 35 suspected smugglers who were transferred ashore to face federal prosecution in U.S. courts.
Since Jan. 21 through this week, Coast Guard crews hit a milestone of interdicting more than 80,000 pounds of illicit drugs being smuggled by drug cartels attempting to reach the U.S.
Their efforts are part of a U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) directive that deployed two U.S. Navy warships to the southern border in direct support of Coast Guard interdiction efforts.
“The Coast Guard leads the U.S. government’s efforts to control, secure and defend the nation’s borders and maritime approaches, starting at the U.S. southern border, where the president has declared a national emergency,” Acting Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said. “We are now leveraging U.S. Navy capabilities with Coast Guard teams aboard to augment our forces off Southern California and Texas.”
“Navy ships provide unique capability to complement U.S. Coast Guard operations to achieve 100% operational control of the border,” he added.
Last month, Coast Guard crews began assisting with deportation flights out of California and Texas, The Center Square reported.
Under border security directives from Trump, the U.S. Coast Guard has tripled its forces operating at the southwest border and more recently hit historic drug bust milestone.
“We are clearing our communities of illicit drugs that fuel addiction and crime. In less than 100 days, President Trump is delivering on his promise to make America safe again,” Noem said.
Coast Guard crews are also interdicting in the Florida straits “to deter and prevent a maritime mass migration from Haiti and/or Cuba,” as well as in the maritime border between the Bahamas and Florida, The Center Square reported.
Under Trump, the USCG also surged resources in the maritime border around Alaska, Hawaii, the U.S. territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands as well as off the coast of Texas and Louisiana in the Gulf of America.
