A P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft from the Air and Marine Operations division of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP AMO) detected a speedboat in the Caribbean Sea, triggering an operation that resulted in the seizure of nearly two tons of marijuana and the arrest of two Ecuadorian smuggler.
According to an official statement from CBP AMO published this Tuesday, the aircraft was conducting a routine patrol in that area on June 11, when its crew spotted a three-engine vessel, of Ecuadorian style, loaded with fuel barrels and large packages, moving at high speed.
Immediately, the position data was transmitted to the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), which deployed a helicopter and "Over-the-Horizon" surveillance vessels to intercept the boat.
After a flyover, the suspicious vessel came to a stop, allowing the Coast Guard teams to take control of it.
The result of the operation was the seizure of 3,960 pounds of marijuana —approximately 1,796 kilograms— and the arrest of two suspects of Ecuadorian nationality, CBP AMO reported.
The three-engine, Ecuadorian-style speedboats are a well-documented method of drug transport along maritime routes in the Western Hemisphere, with crews from that country reported to be involved in operations in both the Pacific and the Caribbean.
CBP AMO highlighted the success of the operation: "Great teamwork and coordination between NASOC-JAX (National Air Security Operations Center in Jacksonville), JIATF-South, and the USCG!"
This case adds to a series of significant seizures in the Caribbean recorded in 2026: in April, the Coast Guard seized 7,050 pounds of cocaine in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific, and in May, they intercepted a vessel off the coast of Haiti with 3,200 pounds of marijuana.
Since September 2025, the Trump administration intensified antinarcotics operations in the region, including lethal attacks against drug boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific.
At the beginning of this month, U.S. Southern Command took down a drug smuggling boat and killed its two crew members, as part of the same maximum pressure campaign against maritime drug trafficking.
The case of June 11 is notable because it involves marijuana—not cocaine, which is the more common cargo on these routes—and an Ecuadorian-type vessel operating in the Caribbean, indicating trafficking routes that connect Ecuador with Caribbean and North American markets.
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