07.22.2026
« Return to News#6 – You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide: Inside USCGC Stone’s Historic Counter-Drug Patrol
By Donnie Brzuska, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance
The eastern Pacific Ocean is one of the world’s busiest maritime drug trafficking corridors.
It’s also one of the largest operating areas the U.S. Coast Guard patrols.
“The eastern Pacific is just a massive area that only a limited amount of assets can target,” said Lt. Cmdr. Naylor. “And cartels continue to change and update their ways of running drugs that require us to adapt.”
That constant adaptation was on display during Operation Pacific Viper, when the crew of USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) completed one of the most successful counter-drug patrols in Coast Guard history.
When the cutter returned to Port Everglades in November 2025, the crew offloaded approximately 49,010 pounds of illicit narcotics valued at more than $362 million. The offload represented the results of 15 interdictions in the eastern Pacific Ocean and marked the largest cocaine seizure by a single Coast Guard cutter during one patrol.
While Stone‘s achievements drew national attention, they were also part of the Coast Guard’s broader Operation Pacific Viper, a surge of cutters, aircraft and personnel that disrupted transnational criminal organizations across the eastern Pacific. During the operation, Coast Guard crews interdicted more than 100,000 pounds of illicit narcotics in less than three months, underscoring the scale of the campaign and the Service’s role as the nation’s lead maritime law enforcement agency.
Hunting Targets Hundreds of Miles Offshore
Most interdictions begin long before anyone sees a suspect vessel.
A target of interest is identified somewhere in the vast operating area. Intelligence is evaluated, the helicopter launches and the crew aboard Stone prepares its over-the-horizon small boat. From that point forward, every movement is coordinated between the cutter, aircrew and boarding team.
“The first things that we’re doing once we get the call and launch, we’ll be notified of a target of interest somewhere out in the ocean,” one boarding team member explains. “The helicopter will get up, and then we’ll get notified to launch the small boat.”
As the helicopter maintains contact overhead, the small boat closes the distance.
“If they do warning shots or disabling fire, we’ll go on board, conduct a full law enforcement boarding,” the crew member says.
Every successful case depends on communication, timing and coordination across multiple Coast Guard platforms operating hundreds of miles from shore.
Fifteen Cases. One Historic Patrol.
The videos from Stone‘s deployment capture high-speed pursuits, helicopter overflights, boarding teams climbing aboard suspected smuggling vessels and crews recovering bales of narcotics from the open ocean.
Those moments were repeated again and again throughout the patrol.
By the time Stone arrived in Port Everglades, the crew had completed:
- 15 interdictions
- Approximately 49,010 pounds of illicit narcotics seized
- More than $362 million in wholesale value
- The most cocaine seized by a single Coast Guard cutter during a single patrol
Behind every case were days of searching, long hours on watch and coordinated operations across one of the largest maritime operating areas in the world.
Protecting Communities at Home
The Coast Guard is one of the few U.S. agencies with the authority to stop, board and detain suspected drug smugglers on the high seas.
“The Coast Guard’s presence is incredibly important because we are one of the only agencies from the United States that has a law enforcement authority in order to interdict and detain people that are trafficking drugs in these areas,” one crew member explains.
Those interdictions are part of a broader effort to disrupt transnational criminal organizations before illicit narcotics ever reach American communities.
“It’s going to keep the streets safer back home,” the crew member says. “Every target we take is hundreds, if not thousands of lives saved. Whether it’s a tangible result or not, we know that we’re going to save at least one life with every boat.”
For the crew of Stone, those words became reality during one of the most successful counter-drug patrols in Coast Guard history.
Watch Video #6
Watch You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide, the No. 6 entry in the 2026 U.S. Coast Guard Top 10 Videos of the Year competition.
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