The United States Coast Guard cutter Munro and its crew returned to their home port in Alameda, California, on March 1, 2026, after a 119-day mission in which they seized about 10 metric tons of cocaine, the largest maritime drug seizure in 18 years, and chased down an oil tanker wanted for violating U.S. sanctions. The deployment spanned about 42,000 kilometers from the eastern Pacific Ocean to the north Atlantic, a Department of War (DOW) news release said. “This crew rose to every new challenge thrown at them with professionalism and persistence, and they achieved historic results,” Capt. Jim O’Mara, commanding officer…
The Watch
The Canadian coastal defense vessel HMCS Yellowknife returned to its home port in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in March 2026 after a seven-week patrol in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Caribbe, a multinational operation to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking. The Yellowknife’s voyage represented Canada’s continuing commitment to stemming narcotic flows to North America funneled by transnational criminal organizations. The ship’s mission “demonstrates Canada’s sustained commitment to upholding international law and contributing to regional security in the Caribbean Sea. Maintaining a lawful and persistent presence at sea plays a critical role in deterring illicit trafficking…
Cold Response, a Norwegian-led NATO military exercise, took place in Norway and Finland in March 2026, bringing together 25,000 troops from more than a dozen nations. The cold-weather exercise gave participating forces the opportunity to operate in challenging conditions and demonstrate interoperability, logistical readiness and rapid deployment in the face of threats to NATO’s northern flank. For the first time, NATO’s Joint Force Command-Norfolk in Virginia commanded the exercise in which NATO allies collaborated on joint flight operations, mass casualty drills, live-fire events, situational lanes, multilateral land training and amphibious missions. Cold Response, which occurred between March 9 and March…
Recruits from the Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) and the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment (TCIR) participated in a two-week training exercise in February 2026 in Bermuda designed to build basic military skills and regiment morale among the newest members of the military forces of the two British Overseas Territories (BOT). Twenty-two members of the RBR and 12 members of TCIR participated in the latest collaboration between BOT militaries. RBR Lt. Scott Brown, the recruit camp platoon commander, said the experience was a valuable one. “It was a fantastic group … We had a really solid platoon,” Brown said in an…
In a complex sea and air operation, the Mexican Navy seized a semisubmersible “narco sub” and about 4 metric tons of cocaine off the coast of Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico, in February 2026. Authorities apprehended three people during the mission, which involved an ocean patrol, two fixed-wing aircraft, two mobile-wing aircraft and two interceptor patrols. “In the last week, maritime operations have made it possible to seize nearly 10 tons of this drug,” Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch said February 19 in a post on the social platform X. “This represents a direct and multimillion-dollar blow to the…
The Canadian government has chosen Stantec, a design and consulting company, and its consortium partners to deliver the first phase of the nation’s Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) project, providing long-range, early-warning coverage of the continent’s northern regions. A-OTHR is part of an investment by Canada’s Department of National Defence in the next two decades to modernize and upgrade North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) infrastructure, which detects, validates, and warns of aerospace and maritime threats. Defence Construction Canada, which is wholly owned by the government, chose the Canadian companies to implement the plan under an integrated project delivery model, where Stantec leads…
Mexican Secretary of National Defense Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo and President Claudia Sheinbaum led a celebration of the Mexican Army’s 113th anniversary on February 19, 2026, in Oriental, Puebla, emphasizing that the Army not only defends borders but protects public security and well-being. In times of disaster, the military “has saved the lives of thousands of Mexicans,” Trevilla said. Sheinbaum reiterated that point, saying, “The Mexican Army … supports public safety and builds the future. Its military engineers have participated in the construction of hospitals that expand access to health care, and the construction and modernization of airports that connect strategic regions, and…
Finland announced the regional capital of Lapland will host a NATO Forward Land Forces (FLF) headquarters staffed by Finnish, Swedish and other NATO members to establish a permanent logistical and planning hub for the defense of the Arctic. Rovaniemi, a city of 66,000 in the interior of Finland’s northernmost province, will host the base, which can be expanded to accommodate brigade-level force strength of Finnish forces with additional capability for NATO forces during exercises or conflict, reported FYE, the Finnish national broadcaster. “The focus of FLF Finland’s battlegroup activities will be in Northern Finland and, largely supported by Rovaniemi and…
The United States donated nearly $900,000 worth of equipment to the Bahamas Ministry of National Security on February 23, 2026, to help combat drug trafficking in The Bahamas and the region. The assets include a drug incinerator, six boat lifts and two handheld scanners to detect illegal narcotics. Bahamas Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe said the equipment will significantly improve the nation’s ability to track down and destroy illegal drugs in Bahamian waters. “For the traffickers who think they can exploit our geography, please be warned that we’re building a furnace for your enterprise, and this incinerator is only the…
The United States Department of War’s senior official in charge of coordinating counter-narcotics policy and other U.S. diplomatic, military and law enforcement officials met with counterparts in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in February 2026. The itinerary included a visit to RBDF’s headquarter to discuss counternarcotics strategies and attending the Fourth Northern Caribbean Security Summit, where U.S. and regional leaders discussed avenues to increase stability and prosperity in a critical area for combating transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and disrupting drug-smuggling networks. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of War (DASW) for Counternarcotics and Stabilization Policy…