Coast Guard Seizes Thousands Of Pounds Of Cocaine In Eastern pacific After Stopping Alleged Drug Boats

The coast guard has seized more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine from alleged drug boats in the Eastern Pacific, CBS News reported.

The outlet noted that the crew of the USCG Cutter Active offloaded close to 30,000 pounds of cocaine in California on Monday. Most of them came from a seizure conducted in December to disable a fast vessel with more than 20,000 pounds of drugs, the largest such episode in almost 20 years.

Moreover, 12 people were arrested during the seizure and now face federal drug charges. Rear Adm. Jeffrey Novak, deputy commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area, told outlet KFMB that forces used "aircraft to try and interdict."

"We have the ability to call a non-compliant vessel and use force from an aircraft. We can fire warning shots and then disabling fire to shoot out the engines of the fast vessel," he added.

The drugs have a street value of more than $200 million, the force said on social media.

The Trump administration has been taking a different approach, striking alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The latest one took place on Monday, with forces killing eight people across three different strikes.

Three were killed in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third. The U.S. has now conducted 25 strikes since the campaign, which also seeks to oust Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro began in September.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced increased scrutiny lately, especially after reports surfaced that one of the attacks included a second strike to finish off two survivors.