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FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Air and Marine Operations (AMO) deployed a Black Hawk helicopter to intercept a boat suspected of smuggling drugs off the coast of Puerto Rico earlier this month.
On May 14, AMO detected a 25-foot blue vessel carrying three people and visible packages. After surveilling its activity, the San Juan Marine Unit deployed a pair of law-enforcement boats, flanked by the Black Hawk, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The agency seized three Dominican Republic nationals along with five bales containing 391 pounds of cocaine.
The helicopter-assisted takedown is just the most recent display of American military might that has been targeting narcotrafficking operations south of the U.S. border.
BORDER CRISIS SHIFTS TO CARIBBEAN: HOMELAND SECURITY FIGHTS SILENT WAR IN PUERTO RICO
U.S. agents approach a boat suspected of carrying narcotics off the coast of Puerto Rico (Customs and Border Protection)
“Our Air and Marine Operations teams demonstrated exceptional skill and coordination in this interdiction. The decisive use of air disabling fire by our Black Hawk crew was instrumental in stopping the vessel and preventing dangerous narcotics from reaching our communities,” Caribbean Air and Marine Branch Director Christopher Hunter said.
“This operation highlights our commitment to working with partners across all levels to disrupt smuggling networks and protect the security of the United States and its territories,” he added.
Early on in his second administration, President Donald Trump made it clear he would use all available designations to label drug smuggling as a threat to the homeland.
On Jan. 20, 2025, Trump declared a state of emergency brought on by the influx of narcotics.
“They present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with those threats,” the White House said in its executive order.
SPEC OPS CHIEF ORDERED DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE ‘IN SELF-DEFENSE’ WITH HEGSETH’S SIGN-OFF, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion on public safety at a Tennessee Air National Guard Base in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday, March 23, 2026, with Gov. Bill Lee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Gady Serralta, director of the U.S. Marshals Service. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
In turn, the Department of War caught the attention of the country when it began carrying out strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, in a manner it said was consistent with the administration’s posture.
After nearly 20 strikes in waters around the Caribbean, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the efforts had successfully choked off some trafficking operations.
“WINNING: Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the U.S. Southern Command have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean,” Hegseth said in a post to social media.
In the Black Hawk confrontation, U.S. agents opted to approach the vessel instead of striking it from afar.
Infrared video footage shared with Fox News Digital showed the three men on the boat desperately throwing the contents of the boat overboard as the Black Hawk and other U.S. boats encircled the craft.
TRUMP’S WAR ON CARTELS ENTERS NEW PHASE AS EXPERTS PREDICT WHAT’S NEXT
A pair of U.S. vessels approach a boat suspected of carrying narcotics off the coast of Puerto Rico. (Customs and Border Protection)
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The three suspects put their hands above their heads as agents approached their vessel and were pulled onto U.S. boats. A search of the boat revealed empty plastic containers and other unidentified packages.
The contraband thrown into the water was recovered, according to CBP.
