USCGC Tampa Offloads 29,600 Pounds of Cocaine at Port Everglades

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Tampa offloaded nearly 30,000 pounds of cocaine and 3,355 pounds of marijuana at a pier in Port Everglades, Florida, on Wednesday, October 14. The shipment, valued at $226.7 million, was seized in six interdictions carried out in international waters of the Eastern Pacific during a 60-day patrol.

A substantial portion of the haul was obtained in just six days in September, when the Tampa's crew intercepted four suspect vessels in back-to-back operations: the first vessel was carrying 6,800 pounds of cocaine, four days later two vessels were stopped with a combined total of 15,000 pounds, and the following day a fourth vessel was transporting an additional 3,400 pounds. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on September 15 the Tampa's helicopter detected a vessel south of Panama, and a second one appeared as the cutter responded; approximately 6,827 kilograms of cocaine were seized from both, and the next day the helicopter crew stopped another go-fast boat in the same area using warning shots and disabling fire.

Captain Joshua DiPietro, the Tampa's commanding officer, noted that the smuggling vessels encountered on this patrol were more powerful than any he had seen in the rest of his career, averaging 1,000 horsepower, with three to four high-powered outboard engines, and lengths between 35 and 45 feet, along with larger loads than those recorded on previous patrols. DiPietro also highlighted that the crew succeeded in preventing a combined total of 32,000 pounds of contraband from reaching U.S. shores.

The interdictions were carried out by the Tampa's crew together with the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team, Law Enforcement Detachment 102, the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron, Joint Interagency Task Force South, the Coast Guard's Eleventh District, and the USS Gridley. Vice Admiral Jo-Ann Burdian, commander of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area, stated that the service continues to leverage its authorities and partnerships across the Western Hemisphere to degrade the ability of transnational criminal organizations to harm American communities.

The operation falls under Operation Pacific Viper, launched in August 2025, whose cumulative cocaine seizure tally had surpassed 262,000 pounds by late September, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Of the fifteen suspects detained during the patrol, the Coast Guard indicated that they will be repatriated rather than prosecuted through federal judicial channels. The Tampa is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, built in 1984, and is part of a fleet that will eventually be replaced by the future Offshore Patrol Cutters built by Austal.