SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The U.S. Coast Guard Thursday announced the offloading of 8,500 kilograms of cocaine, nearly 19,000 pounds, worth over $200 million, seized in a joint effort by the and Coast Guard cutters Kimball and Forward crews from February 2025 to April in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The drugs were seized during six separate drug-smuggling vessel interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America, the Coast Guard said.
Special guests in attendance of the announcement were Capt. Jason Hagan, District 11 chief of enforcement; Joe Hathaway, assistant special agent in charge, Drug Enforcement Agency acting deputy chief, patrol agents R.J. Ripple of San Diego Sector, U.S. Border Patrol, Ron Hope, deputy director, Marine Operations, San Diego Air and Marine Branch; Chris Barone, assistant special agent in charge, Homeland Security Investigation, San Diego.
"This offload is just one piece of the large and enduring multinational and multi-agency effort to combat international drug cartels and to deter the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States," said Rear Admiral Joanna Hiigl, acting deputy commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area. "Notably, in fiscal year 2025 alone, the U.S. Coast Guard has removed well over $1 billion in cocaine from the Eastern Pacific, and we are not done yet. Every day, American lives, families and communities are plagued by illicit drugs like cocaine and fentanyl."
Hiigl said that violence, corruption, extortion and instability follow as cocaine and fentanyl move from the Southern Hemisphere toward the U.S. To meet and deter the effects of drug-trafficking cartels, foreign terrorist organizations and other criminal networks, it takes a network to defeat a network, she said.
"We protect, we defend, we save those who work and live on the sea. We protect the sea and its resources, and we enforce the maritime rule of law. The U.S. Coast Guard is in greater demand today than ever before due to our amazing Coast Guard men and women. We are the world's greatest Coast Guard," Hiigl said.
Commanding Officer Capt. Robert Kinsey of the Kimball said the offload is the "result of a Joint Interagency Task Force package approved by dedicated professionals that came together to interdict over nine tons of pure cocaine, denying cartels an estimated $215 million in profits."
"Significant offload represents more than just the seizure of illicit narcotics. It underscores our tireless efforts -- my crew and our partners - - in safeguarding our nation's maritime borders and disrupting the flow of dangerous drugs that fuel violence and despair in our communities," Kinsey said.
"Our crew also both bolstered important international partnerships with law enforcement members from the Mexican Navy, who provided two observers that sailed and operated with us throughout this whole deployment. While in Panama and alongside our DoD brothers and sisters aboard the USS Chosin, we hosted Secretary Hegseth and our DoD partners. I've spent time conducting subject matter expertise exchanges with more than 40 members of Panama's counter-drug enforcement teams," Kinsey said.
Coast Guard officials said they have a good relationship with Mexico and share as much information as they can back and forth and share the common goal of "getting after the illicit activity that happens in the eastern Pacific."
The Kimball is one of two multi-mission national security cutters, homeported in Honolulu.
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