DHS says Coast Guard narcotics seizures up 200% since January 2025

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The statement is not 100% exact but close enough for a reasonable person (e.g., claimed 70% vs. actual 65%). Learn more in Methodology.

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enforcement

Coast Guard seizure logs or official drug interdiction statistics verify a 200% increase in seizures since January 2025 compared with the referenced baseline.

Source summary
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem swore in Admiral Kevin Lunday as the 28th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard at a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters. Adm. Lunday, who served as Acting Commandant in 2025, will oversee the service’s global operations and lead its Force Design 2028 transformation. The release highlights 2025 performance metrics—121% of recruiting targets (5,204 new members), a 200% increase in narcotics seizures since January 2025, a 120% rise in interdictions and related events, and 4,946 lives saved—and cites a Force Design report claiming a 6-to-1 return on investment.
Latest fact check

Available official data show a very large increase in Coast Guard drug seizures, roughly matching (and even slightly exceeding) a 200% rise, but the claim’s wording is imprecise about what the increase is measured against.

A November 6, 2025 U.S. Coast Guard press release reports that in fiscal year 2025 the service seized “nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine,” and notes that the Coast Guard “on average…seizes 167,000 pounds of cocaine annually.” That implies an increase of about 205% over the stated historical average (more than triple the baseline), which aligns in scale with the Department of Homeland Security’s 2025 Year in Review assertion that “since January 2025, Coast Guard seizures of illegal narcotics are up 200%.” However, the DHS statement does not clearly specify whether the comparison is to the long‑term average, the prior fiscal year, or another benchmark, and the Coast Guard release frames the figure on a fiscal‑year basis rather than “since January 2025.”

Verdict: Close, because the magnitude of the increase is supported by Coast Guard data (about a 205% rise versus the cited average), but the claim’s “since January 2025” framing and lack of a clear baseline make it technically imprecise rather than strictly accurate.

Timeline

  1. Update · Jan 16, 2026, 02:57 AMClose
    Available official data show a very large increase in Coast Guard drug seizures, roughly matching (and even slightly exceeding) a 200% rise, but the claim’s wording is imprecise about what the increase is measured against. A November 6, 2025 U.S. Coast Guard press release reports that in fiscal year 2025 the service seized “nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine,” and notes that the Coast Guard “on average…seizes 167,000 pounds of cocaine annually.” That implies an increase of about 205% over the stated historical average (more than triple the baseline), which aligns in scale with the Department of Homeland Security’s 2025 Year in Review assertion that “since January 2025, Coast Guard seizures of illegal narcotics are up 200%.” However, the DHS statement does not clearly specify whether the comparison is to the long‑term average, the prior fiscal year, or another benchmark, and the Coast Guard release frames the figure on a fiscal‑year basis rather than “since January 2025.” Verdict: Close, because the magnitude of the increase is supported by Coast Guard data (about a 205% rise versus the cited average), but the claim’s “since January 2025” framing and lack of a clear baseline make it technically imprecise rather than strictly accurate.
  2. Original article · Jan 15, 2026

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