In three separate operations in the Pacific Ocean, the Mexican Navy seized about 5½ metric tons of cocaine and five small vessels, and arrested 22 suspects, Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR) news releases said in early August. On land, Navy personnel located and destroyed a secret methamphetamine laboratory.
In the first operation, during maritime surveillance patrols off Oaxaca, Navy personnel located two small vessels “that were sailing suspiciously,” a SEMAR news release said. During an inspection, Navy personnel seized 127 packages and 42 compartments containing cocaine that weighed about 3 metric tons. Ten suspects were arrested.
In the second naval operation, off the coast of Chiapas, two boats were seized, the release said. One was transporting 24 packages of cocaine that weighed about 1.4 metric tons. Six people were arrested.
The antidrug actions in the Pacific were the “result of maritime surveillance operations … preventing millions of doses from reaching the streets and significantly impacting the operational and financial capabilities of criminal organizations,” Mexican Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch announced on the X social platform. “During the current administration, the Secretariat of the Navy has seized more than 80 tons of cocaine in Mexican waters.”
In Nayarit state, Navy personnel came under fire during a land excursion. One member of the Navy team was wounded in the ensuing gunfight, and a suspect was killed, the release said. A firearm, magazines and cartridges were seized.
In Culiacán, Sinaloa, Navy personnel destroyed a clandestine laboratory. The lab contained about 300 liters of chemicals used to make methamphetamine.
In another operation in the Pacific, about 460 nautical miles south of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexican Navy personnel seized a small vessel with 39 packages containing about 1.1 metric tons of cocaine, about 2,450 liters of fuel, three satellite communication devices and two radio beacons, a second SEMAR news release said. Six suspects were arrested; three were Mexican and three Ecuadorian.
United States Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson praised the Mexican Navy operation, saying on X: “We weaken the cartels by striking at the operations that sustain them. The seizure of more than one ton of cocaine and 2,450 liters of fuel by [SEMAR] directly impacts their capabilities for drug trafficking and their logistical operations.”
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March, Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said transnational criminal organizations in Mexico “retain their intent to flood the United States with illegal drugs and facilitate illegal migration across our border. While the increased U.S. military and law enforcement presence along our southern approaches has severely curtailed these illicit flows over the last year, these criminals continue to seek alternate routes to move their products into the United States.”