A Florida-based multi-agency task force has confiscated an unprecedented one million pounds of cocaine during fiscal year 2025 — a haul officials say represents 378 million lethal doses, enough to fatally impact every American.
The seizure was announced by the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force – South (JIATF-S), led by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). The unit, which includes the U.S. Coast Guard, works alongside partner nations to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs through the “transit zone” spanning South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, aiming to weaken transnational criminal organizations.
According to the task force, the drugs seized over the past 12 months could fill 42 dump trucks. The 2025 fiscal year concludes this Tuesday.
JIATF-S confirmed to Fox News Digital that these operations have deprived cartels and narco-terrorists of $11.34 billion in revenue and removed 377.9 million lethal doses from the streets.
JIATF-S operates across 42 million square miles, from the Eastern Pacific to the Western Atlantic, stretching from international waters north of the Caribbean Antilles to the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn.
The region remains a major corridor for drugs, arms, cash, and human trafficking. Well-funded and sophisticated criminal networks continue to exploit the area, officials noted.
“By disrupting the flow of these deadly drugs, JIATF-S is saving lives and protecting our homeland,” the agency stated.
Officials noted that a seizure of this magnitude is unprecedented. The one million pounds of cocaine does not account for actions against Venezuelan narco-terrorists.
The Trump administration has pledged to intensify military action in the Caribbean as part of its counter-narcotics strategy.
In recent months, U.S. forces have launched multiple operations targeting smuggling vessels as President Donald Trump intensified efforts to crack down on cartels and curb the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs into the United States.
In February, Trump designated groups such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel as foreign terrorist organizations. The Justice Department has also offered $50 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro is accused by U.S. authorities of helping lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking network allegedly made up of senior government and military officials.
“As he gained power in Venezuela, Maduro participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” a State Department bulletin states.
Prosecutors allege Maduro facilitated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine and directed the Cartel of the Suns to supply the group with military-grade weapons.
In August, Trump authorized the deployment of several U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers to bolster counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean.
Maduro responded by declaring Venezuela ready to resist any attacks, calling the move “an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.” He has accused Trump of orchestrating a broader campaign to overthrow his government.
