United States Coast Guard forces seized more than 231,786 kilograms of narcotics worth over $3.8 billion in 2025 — the largest haul in the service branch’s history. The successful disruption of transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs, in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean prevented more than 193 million lethal doses from reaching U.S. shores and saved more than $10 billion in costs in health care and other areas, according to a Coast Guard news release. “The men and women of the Coast Guard delivered extraordinary results for our Nation in 2025,” Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, the Coast Guard’s commandant, said in the release. “From securing the border and interdicting illegal drugs to facilitating maritime commerce and responding rapidly to crises, their success is driving the momentum we carry into 2026.”
Operation Pacific Viper, initiated in August 2025, surged cutters, aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and specialized forces. It put significant pressure on TCO smuggling routes, netting over 45,359 kilograms in three months. The Coast Guard cutter Stone set a record for a single deployment by seizing 27,215 kilograms of cocaine worth $447 million, the release stated. The Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron, known as HITRON, conducted its 1,000th counternarcotics interdiction, disabling a narcotics-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific.
The drug seizures highlighted an active year for the Coast Guard. Operation Border Trident countered TCOs and illegal immigration in the California coastal region. Coast Guard assets, including fast-response cutters, national security cutters, aircraft and unmanned systems curbed illegal maritime migration by 44% compared with 2024. Operation River Wall, a maritime border security operation to stem smuggling and illegal migration in the Rio Grande Valley, also deterred illegal activities. “Through intelligence-driven patrols and close coordination with federal, state and local partners, the operation enhanced maritime domain dominance and helped protect the border,” the release stated.
Coast Guard forces also responded to potential adversarial threats in the Arctic region. From July to September 2025, five Chinese Communist Party research vessels — the largest number ever — were challenged and tracked by Coast Guard cutters Healy, Waesche and Storis.
“The Coast Guard stands watch on the maritime frontlines — controlling, securing, and defending our borders and maritime approaches; facilitating the flow of commerce vital to economic prosperity and strategic mobility; and responding to crises and contingencies that may come with little to no warning. Always ready to act, the Coast Guard will continue to meet evolving threats and deliver decisive results for the American people,” the release stated.