The U.S. Coast Guard seized more than 4,500 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $34 million in what officials described as a suspected “narcoterrorist” vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Easter Sunday, according to DHS.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Coast Guard cutter Escanaba was alerted by a maritime patrol aircraft that the crew of a suspected narcoterrorist vessel was throwing contraband overboard.
The Coast Guard deployed an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew to investigate the vessel, which was operating off the coast of Manta, Ecuador.
DHS said the Escanaba crew deployed a cutter pursuit boat and recovered more than 4,510 pounds of cocaine.
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DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the recovery was part of Operation Pacific Viper, a Coast Guard counter-drug operation launched in August 2025 in the Eastern Pacific.
“Operation Pacific Viper plays a central part of President Trump’s fight against the cartels at sea, cutting off their ability to make money by trafficking their poison into our country,” Mullin said in a statement. “This operation has already seized over 215,000 pounds of cocaine and has arrested over 160 suspected narco-traffickers.”
He added, “The brave men and women of the Coast Guard are saving American lives by keeping these deadly drugs out of our communities and off our streets.”
DHS said the Coast Guard’s efforts to disrupt drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific are a key part of the Trump administration’s initiative to combat narcoterrorism and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.
Through Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard has seized more than 215,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehended more than 160 suspected narcotraffickers, according to DHS.
According to DHS, the operation included the Coast Guard’s largest drug seizure in its history, when it recovered more than 76,000 pounds of illegal drugs in August 2025, valued at $473 million. The total reflects multiple interdictions combined into a single offload.
The Coast Guard also seized nearly 50,000 pounds of illicit drugs in November 2025, valued at $362 million — one of the largest totals attributed to a Coast Guard cutter from multiple interdictions, according to DHS.
