The U.S. Coast Guard cutter CGC Tahoma intercepted three suspected smuggling vessels about 90 miles off Cartagena, Colombia, and seized 6,085 pounds of cocaine — roughly 3.04 short tons — valued at about $45–46 million. An embarked helicopter disabled one fleeing boat using precision fire on its engines; occupants jumped overboard and were rescued without reported injuries. The other two vessels complied when boarding teams approached. The drugs will be offloaded at Port Everglades, Florida.
Coast Guard Intercepts Three Vessels, Seizes More Than 3 Tons of Cocaine After Helicopter Disables Fleeing Boat
Three suspected drug smuggling boats are set ablaze, with the Coast Guard cutter Tahoma in the background. / Credit: U.S. Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter CGC Tahoma intercepted three suspected drug-smuggling vessels about 90 miles off Cartagena, Colombia, seizing 6,085 pounds of cocaine — roughly 3.04 short tons (about 2.76 metric tonnes) — in what the service described as a "triple threat." The haul is valued at roughly $45–46 million, officials said.
Operation Details
The 270-foot cutter launched two small boat boarding teams and an embarked helicopter to intercept all three vessels simultaneously. The occupants of one vessel were reported "non-compliant," and the Coast Guard said the helicopter aircrew used aerial use-of-force tactics, including precision sniper fire aimed at the boat's engines, to disable it.
After the fleeing boat's engines were disabled, those aboard jumped into the water and were rescued by Coast Guard personnel with no reported injuries. Video released by the service shows a member of the aircrew firing in front of the moving vessel and then tossing rescue floats to the people who entered the sea.
The other two vessels stopped when approached by Coast Guard boarding teams in small boats. Authorities have not yet disclosed how many people were detained or whether the three vessels were operating together.
Aftermath and Context
The Tahoma recovered a total of 6,085 pounds of cocaine from the three vessels; the ship will offload the contraband at Port Everglades, Florida. Photographs released by the Coast Guard show the three suspected smuggling boats on fire; the agency said crews commonly remove contraband and sink suspected smuggling vessels so they do not endanger other maritime traffic.
Relentless operations to stop narco-terrorism. @USCGSoutheast crews aboard CGC Tahoma and an embarked helicopter seized approximately 6,085 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $45.8 million after stopping three vessels off the coast of Colombia.
As background, the Coast Guard says roughly 80% of narcotics destined for the United States are intercepted at sea; the service reported seizing more than 511,000 pounds of cocaine in 2025. The U.S. administration has emphasized stopping the flow of illicit narcotics as a priority, and officials have increased aggressive maritime interdictions in recent months.
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