The Trump administration has adopted a hard-line approach to dealing with drugs coming into the United States. (Coast Guard )
WATCH: COAST GUARD SEIZES COCAINE, SUSPECTED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN PACIFIC VIPER RAID
As of October, the Coast Guard reported it had snatched 100,000 pounds of cocaine in the eastern Pacific Ocean under Operation Pacific Viper. That translates to roughly 1,600 pounds of cocaine nabbed daily, according to the service.
The Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron snipers are used in missions to disable vessels carrying illicit drugs by targeting and shooting at their engines with rifles to cripple them. Disabling potential drug vessels paves the way for other Coast Guard assets to board and capture drugs stowed away on the boats.
Go-fast vessels are common vessels employed to ferry drugs in the Caribbean.
Coast Guard Cutter Seneca interdicted 5,500 pounds of cocaine northeast of the Galápagos Islands Sept. 10, 2025, as part of Operation Pacific Viper. (Department of Homeland Security)
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Separate from Operation Pacific Viper, the Trump administration also has conducted at least 21 strikes against alleged drug vessels in Latin American waters since September.
While lawmakers have questioned the legality of the strikes — particularly after the White House revealed that a second strike was conducted against a vessel after the first one left survivors in September — the Trump administration has stated it has the authority to conduct those attacks.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a war powers resolution Wednesday to bar Trump from using U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has indicated that the strikes will continue.
"We've only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they've been poisoning the American people," Hegseth said Tuesday.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coast-guard-helicopter-sniper-takes-out-narco-boat-engines-stunning-exclusive-video