A coordinated anti-narcotics operation carried out by a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment deployed on a U.S. Navy vessel has successfully intercepted a vessel suspected of smuggling illegal drugs in waters off Haiti’s northern coast. The operation resulted in the seizure of approximately 3,200 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $3.8 million, U.S. officials confirmed.
Based on an official statement released by U.S. Coast Guard Southeast, the interception occurred Thursday approximately eight nautical miles off the coast of Mole Saint-Nicolas, a coastal town in Haiti’s northwestern department. During the boarding and inspection of the suspect vessel, the enforcement team took one individual into custody. Three days after the interception, on Sunday, both the seized contraband and the detained suspect were handed over to Haitian law enforcement officials for further processing and prosecution.
Lt. Cmdr. Cory Arsenault, the U.S. Coast Guard’s liaison officer to Haiti, emphasized the ongoing commitment of U.S. forces to collaborative regional security. “In close coordination with the Haitian government, the U.S. Coast Guard remains steadfast in our shared mission to safeguard the maritime approaches of the Caribbean,” Arsenault said. “Together, we are strengthening joint operations to disrupt the illegal flow of narcotics, protect vulnerable communities, and uphold the security and stability of the region.”
The successful interdiction was not a solo effort: it drew on coordination and intelligence support from a network of multiple U.S. and regional security agencies, including Joint Interagency Task Force South, the multi-national body tasked with countering illicit trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the region. Transnational drug trafficking has long been a persistent security challenge for Caribbean nations, with unpatrolled maritime routes often used by smuggling networks to move contraband between North, Central, and South America, fueling domestic instability and organized crime in the process.