United States - September 19, 2025 Since August, the U.S. Coast Guard has seized more than 75,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehended nearly 60 suspected narco-terrorists and drug smugglers as part of Operation Pacific Viper, a joint mission with the U.S. Navy aimed at reducing illegal drug flows to the United States. The operation, launched under President Donald Trump’s broader campaign against drug cartels, has seen multiple interdictions. Video footage from September 10 shows the Coast Guard cutter Seneca seizing 5,500 pounds of cocaine from a low-profile vessel northeast of the Galápagos Islands. The U.S. military has also carried out targeted strikes against vessels allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, eliminating 14 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua cartel in two separate actions. President Trump emphasized the scale of the threat, noting that “massive amounts of drugs” were being sent into the U.S., posing serious risks to public safety. To support the mission, several U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers were deployed to the Southern Command region in August. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro condemned the deployments and strikes, calling them an “extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat,” and claiming the U.S. sought to intimidate and effect regime change. The Trump administration has reinforced its anti-drug strategy by designating major cartels, including Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa, as foreign terrorist organizations, further targeting their networks and operations.