A Florida-based multi-agency task force has seized a record one million pounds of cocaine during the 2025 fiscal year, according to an announcement by the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force – South (JIATF-S), which is led by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). Officials stated that this amount represents 378 million lethal doses, which they say would be enough to kill every American.
The operation involved the U.S. Coast Guard and cooperation with partner nations, focusing on disrupting drug trafficking through the transit zone between South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The aim is to weaken transnational criminal organizations operating in these regions.
According to JIATF-S, the drugs seized over the past 12 months could fill 42 dump trucks. The fiscal year ends Tuesday. JIATF-S confirmed that their efforts have denied cartels and narco-terrorists $11.34 billion in revenue and removed nearly 378 million lethal doses from circulation.
JIATF-S operates across a region spanning 42 million square miles, from the Eastern Pacific to the Western Atlantic, including international waters north of the Caribbean Antilles down to Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.
“In the last 12 months, #SOUTHCOM and @jiatfs, in close coordination with @USCG, @USNavy, our interagency partners, and like-minded nations, have seized/disrupted one million pounds of cocaine, enough to fill 42 dump trucks. This massive effort has denied cartels and…” U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) said in a statement on September 30, 2025.
The seizure comes amid ongoing concerns about drug-related deaths in the United States. The opioid epidemic continues to claim more than 100,000 American lives each year and has had a significant impact on rural communities affected by economic decline.
Depriving criminal organizations of such large amounts of revenue is expected by officials to reduce their influence and operations in drug trafficking activities.
