Category: Coast Guard

Coast Guard Seizes Over $500M In ‘Cartel Cocaine’

FBI Director Kash Patel (C) speaks as US Attorney General Pam Bondi (2nd L) looks on during press conference on illicit narcotics, at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on April 9, 2025. The law enforcement officers and the US Coast Guard highlighted the offload of over 48,400 pounds of illicit narcotics worth more than $509 million at Port Everglades, interdicted during drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Marco BELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
FBI Director Kash Patel (C) speaks as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (2nd L) looks on during a press conference on illicit narcotics at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:18 PM – Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a “major blow” to two Mexican drug cartels after the Coast Guard seized over $500 million in cocaine — amounting to over 45,000 pounds.

Bondi revealed that the seizure took place on Wednesday, after two Coast Guard cutters intercepted approximately $509 million dollars worth of cocaine from smuggling boats near Ecuador, Peru, and the Galápagos Islands.

“We have saved thousands and thousands of lives as a result of this incredible cooperation,” Bondi stated at Port Everglades in Florida, alongside FBI Director Kash Patel.

Bondi also revealed that the illicit drugs were tied to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa cartel, noting that 11 individuals were arrested in the operation.

She continued, stating that the Coast Guard utilized “drones, aircraft, and ships to interdict the traffickers” in the operation.

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) April 9, 2025

FBI Director Kash Patel also spoke at the press conference. He issued a warning to other foreign drug cartels who continue their ongoing drug smuggling and drug trafficking operations.

“We are going to dismantle the ‘next-man-up’ theory that has been breeding these Mexican cartels for generations,” Patel asserted. “No more.”

The U.S. Coast Guard revealed that their efforts in finding the large stash took around eleven days, describing the process of locating the drug traffickers in the patrol area as “finding a needle in a haystack.”

The interagency effort led by the Coast Guard was also assisted by the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Over 130,073 pounds (59 metric tons) of narcotics have been seized since just February, according to U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Nathan Moore.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

Multiple Chinese Military Ships Spotted Near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, U.S. Coast Guard Says

Multiple Chinese Military Ships Spotted Near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, U.S. Coast Guard Says

Chinese navy personnel pull a rope to dock Chinese amphibious warfare ship Jinggangshan during a welcome ceremony at the Sihanoukville port in Preah Sihanouk province on May 19, 2024. Two Chinese warships docked in Cambodia on May 19, 2024 as part of the biggest-ever joint military drills with the Southeast Asian nation. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s James Meyers
8:21 AM – Thursday, July 11, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/multiple-chinese-military-ships-spotted-near-alaskas-aleutian-islands-u-s-coast-guard-says/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Chinese Navy warships were spotted in waters off Alaska, U.S. Coast Guard officials said in a news release on Wednesday. 

Three of the warships were detected close to 124 miles north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, and a fourth vessel was seen 84 miles north of the state’s Amutka Pass. The ships were last seen on both Saturday and Sunday of last weekend. 

According to the Coast Guard, all four ships were in international waters, but were inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, which reaches over 200 nautical miles from the U.S. shoreline. In these areas, the United States has exclusive rights for exploring and using marine resources. 

The Coast Guard said that both it and the U.S. Northern Command were “fully aware” of the Chinese ships’ progress. 

“The Kimball patrolled under Operation Frontier Sentinel, a Coast Guard operation designed to meet presence and presence when strategic competitors operate in and around U.S. waters,” the statement said.

“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” said Rear Adm. Megan Dean, Seventeenth Coast Guard District commander. “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese ships told the Coast Guard their mission was “freedom of navigation operations.” The Kimball monitored the ships until they went south into the North Pacific Ocean.

Additionally, similar incidents have occurred over the past few years. Between September 2021 and September 2022, Coast Guard cutters in the area encountered Chinese surface action groups.

In 2023, the U.S. Navy sent four destroyers to the Alaskan coast after 11 Chinese and Russian warships were spotted patrolling international waters within the Exclusive Economic Zone.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts