PORT EVERGLADES, Florida — A US Coast Guard crew successfully seized a record-breaking amount of cocaine from drug runners with the help of an unusual reconnaissance drone.
The unique tail-sitter drone, capable of taking off and landing vertically, allowed the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Stone to easily put eyes in the sky and spot drug smugglers during a recent deployment in the eastern Pacific.
The crew of the Stone, a large Legends-class National Security cutter, offloaded over 49,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $362 million at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday. It was a landmark offload marking the most cocaine seized by a single Coast Guard cutter during a deployment. The majority of the cocaine taken during this deployment came from Colombia, officials said.
“What you see behind me is more than just a pile of cocaine,” Vice Adm. Moore, commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, said, standing amid cocaine packages stacked in long rows on the Stone’s deck. “It represents a tangible victory in our ongoing fight against transnational criminal organizations and narcoterrorism.”
The deployment, which began in August, was part of the Coast Guard-led Operation Pacific Viper targeting drug-running operations in the eastern Pacific. Coast Guard officials say the service is accelerating its counter-narcotics missions, resulting in record numbers of drug interdictions. In fiscal year 2025 alone, the Coast Guard seized almost 510,000 pounds of cocaine, the most in its history.
The Stone’s recent deployment in the Pacific included 15 interdictions, three of which occurred on the same night.
The three vessels were spotted in rapid succession by a new capability on the Stone, Shield AI’s MQ-35 V-BAT. The uncrewed aerial vehicle, which was operated by a contractor team, spotted the first boat in dark waters during the night, prompting the Stone to prepare a boarding team.
Capt. Anne O’Connell, the commanding officer of the Stone, told Business Insider that as the team and the armed interdiction helicopter were interdicting the vessel, the V-BAT went out to patrol the area further. “That’s when they saw the wake from the second TOI,” or target of interest, she said.
As the second boarding team went out, the drone set out on another patrol, finding a third boat nearby. That night, a total of 12,000 pounds of cocaine were seized, along with seven suspected narcotics traffickers.
The drone, O’Connell said, was integral to the operations that night because it allowed the Stone’s crew to continue monitoring surrounding areas while completing boarding processes, which can take anywhere from two to eight hours depending on the size of the vessel and the complex law enforcement procedures that Coast Guard teams must follow.
The V-BAT flies over a designated area determined by the Coast Guard. The drone’s operators receive specific instructions on what to look for, and once it’s airborne, its live video feed is transmitted to the ship, where crew members can watch it on monitors.
This was the Stone’s first deployment with the V-BAT, and it’s also one of the first cutters to have it on board, O’Connell said. Its usefulness was especially notable in the large operating area of the eastern Pacific, as the uncrewed aerial system could make up for a lack of fixed-wing aircraft doing reconnaissance.
The V-BAT is an unusual drone design, featuring ducted-fan technology for lift. Built to have a small tactical footprint, according to its maker, the drone can take off in winds up to 25 knots from vessels on the move at up to 10 knots. Shield AI says it can offer over 13 hours of flight time for persistent surveillance.
The company notes that a two-man team can have the V-BAT assembled and operational in under 30 minutes.
While the V-BAT, like other capabilities making the Stone a premier vessel for these types of missions, proved valuable, officials said credit belongs primarily to the crew.
“All of those elements, with the UAS and our HITRON [Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron] and our small boats,” O’Connell said, are incredible capabilities. “But the secret sauce is our people, and they are what makes us successful.”
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