'Captured, burned, and sunk': US Coast Guard seizes 13,000 pounds of cocaine from ‘drug boat’ and set it ablaze | WATCH

The US Coast Guard has released footage showing one of its cutters setting fire to a suspected “drug boat” before sinking it in the Pacific Ocean. The operation took place over the weekend as part of Operation Pacific Viper, the agency said. The video, posted online by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), showed the vessel bursting into flames after being repeatedly shot at.

Three busts in one night

According to the Coast Guard, the interdiction was part of a series of three operations carried out in a single night, which led to the seizure of nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and the arrest of seven suspected smugglers. “ASMR: @USCG captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat. Over the weekend, as part of Operation Pacific Viper, the @USCG Cutter Stone conducted three interdictions in a single night, seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehending seven suspected drug smugglers,” DHS wrote on X.

Crackdown in the Pacific

The Coast Guard says it has seized more than 40,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since the launch of Operation Pacific Viper last month, an average of 1,600 pounds per day.

“Through Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard is accelerating counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where significant transport of illicit narcotics continues from South America,” the service said in a statement. The agency said additional cutters, aircraft and tactical teams have been deployed with international and interagency partners to disrupt cocaine shipments and other large-scale drug trafficking.

The sinking of the boat comes just days after a US Marine strike in the southern Caribbean hit another vessel allegedly carrying members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, accused of moving narcotics bound for the US.