How much cocaine has been seized by US from Venezuela boats
Executive summary
U.S. authorities and partners have intercepted and seized tons of cocaine at sea in operations tied to routes that touch Venezuela, including individual cases of 1–2.4 metric tons from vessels linked to Margarita Island and a U.S. Coast Guard annual record seizure of 225 metric tons—though that Coast Guard total is regional and not attributed solely to Venezuelan-origin boats [1] [2]. Independent analyses and agency data cited in reporting say most cocaine seized in the U.S. originates in Colombia (about 84–90% in recent U.S. and media summaries), and available sources do not provide a single, authoritative total for "how much cocaine has been seized by the U.S. from Venezuela boats" [3] [4] [2].
1. What the reported seizures show — notable maritime hauls and where they happened
Reporting documents specific maritime seizures tied to Venezuelan waters or vessels that departed Venezuelan ports: a fishing vessel found near Martinique with 2.4 metric tons of cocaine originating from Margarita Island, and a related episode where U.S. Coast Guard interdiction reportedly recovered 1 ton of cocaine (as part of multi-boat actions that also recovered 1.5 tons of marijuana) [1]. Separately, the U.S. Coast Guard reported a record annual seizure of 225 metric tons of cocaine across its area of operations, but that figure is regional and not itemized by origin country or by whether the vessel was Venezuelan-flagged or departed Venezuela [2].
2. Why you won’t find a clean single-number in public reporting
Open reporting and agency summaries cited here do not publish a consolidated ledger that tallies only seizures from “Venezuelan boats” delivered to U.S. custody. The Coast Guard’s 225-ton annual number aggregates seizures across patrol areas and partner operations; media and think‑tank coverage emphasize routes and regional totals instead of origin-tagged tallies, so a distinct U.S.-only seizure total explicitly from boats of Venezuelan origin is not presented in these sources [2] [1]. Available sources do not mention a definitive cumulative figure labeled “cocaine seized from Venezuelan boats by the U.S.”
3. How analysts and governments frame Venezuela’s role in the cocaine trade
Multiple outlets and analysts quoted in the provided reporting portray Venezuela as principally a transit zone, not a primary producer: the UN and regional experts emphasize that coca is produced in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and U.S. and independent analyses attribute most cocaine entering the U.S. to Colombia (DEA/State Department summaries cited as 84–90 percent) [5] [6] [3] [4]. The New York Times and other outlets estimate cocaine transiting Venezuela probably accounts for less than 10% of the total entering the U.S., underscoring that Venezuela plays a secondary role in volume terms even when individual maritime shipments are significant [7].
4. Competing narratives: law enforcement counts vs. political claims
The Trump administration has publicly justified kinetic strikes at sea as targeting vessels “stacked up” with narcotics, whereas reporters and analysts counter that the bulk of cocaine and virtually all fentanyl reaching the U.S. originate elsewhere—primarily Colombia and Mexico—and that evidence tying Venezuela’s central government to mass exports is disputed in open sources [7] [8]. Critics warn the militarized campaign risks overstating Venezuela’s share and underplaying the intelligence and interdiction work through traditional law enforcement—work that produced the Coast Guard’s record seizures without lethal strikes [2] [8].
5. What the numbers that do exist actually mean for policy and public debate
Large, discrete seizures (tons at sea) demonstrate that maritime routes in the Caribbean are used for significant consignments; they do not, on their own, prove state-directed trafficking or quantify the full flow through Venezuela. Analysts emphasize route heterogeneity: most cocaine traffics via Pacific corridors, and only a minority moves through the Caribbean vectors where Venezuela sits [6] [3]. This matters because policy responses differ—criminal interdiction and international policing target shipments, while military strikes and regime-focused rhetoric pursue different strategic ends [8] [9].
6. Takeaway and reporting limits
Available sources document specific multi-ton seizures tied to vessels that left Venezuelan ports and provide regional seizure aggregates, but they do not publish a single, verified cumulative total of cocaine seized by U.S. forces specifically from “Venezuelan boats.” For that precise figure, one would need access to consolidated customs/Coast Guard/DEA provenance records or a government breakdown by vessel origin that is not provided in the cited reporting [1] [2] [4].