Edition O'007

Drug News Roundup

Sunday, August 30, 2026 · 11 stories

Covering reporting published in the past 24-48 hours (Aug 29-30). Search indexes lag, so several items describe seizures or arrests carried out earlier in the month; each story states its own incident date.

In this edition

  1. National / Federal (US)2
  2. Local US Arrests2
  3. South America4
  4. Rest of World3
  5. Ongoing Stories with New Developments0
  6. Running Tally

1National / Federal (US)

Five plead guilty to running a three-boat, $31 million cocaine pipeline into South Florida

3,500+ kg cocaine · $31MSouth Florida5 pleaded guilty

Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez, Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez, Keisy Estibet Peguero, Enmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera and Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez pleaded guilty on August 27 in the Southern District of Florida to conspiring to import cocaine aboard U.S.-registered sport fishing vessels from the Dominican Republic. Investigators, working the case as "Operation Horseman's Voyage," tied the group to three documented runs — about 1,600 kilograms aboard the Mysterry in 2023, 900 kilograms aboard the Maple Leaf in December 2024, and 1,000 kilograms aboard the Daviniki in mid-2025 — totaling more than 3,500 kilograms worth an estimated $31 million. Each defendant faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison at sentencing.

SourceKeys News
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 3,500+ kg cocaine , $31M
5 × 100 kg cocaine · and the cash

CBP finds $10.75 million in meth hidden in a leek shipment at the Pharr bridge

546 kg methamphetaminePharr, Texas

Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility stopped a tractor-trailer arriving from Reynosa, Mexico on August 22 manifested as fresh leeks. Non-intrusive imaging showed anomalies in the trailer and a canine team alerted to narcotics; a physical search turned up 395 packages of methamphetamine weighing 1,204.82 pounds, valued at about $10.75 million. CBP seized both the drugs and the truck.

SourceU.S. Customs and Border Protection
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 546 kg methamphetamine
5 × 100 kg ≈ 546 kg meth

2Local US Arrests

College Station traffic stop turns up nine kinds of drugs, from meth to LSD

9 drug types seizedCollege Station, Texas1 arrested

A College Station officer pulled over a vehicle just after 1:30 a.m. on August 29 in the 500 block of University Drive East; when a K-9 alerted on the car, a search produced marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, Adderall, Xanax, THC wax, THC cartridges, psilocybin mushrooms and more than 900 LSD tablets. Bryan Carbajal Roman of Bryan was arrested and charged with seven counts of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, three counts of possession, and one marijuana possession count; he is also being held on an ICE immigration detainer.

SourceKBTX
Pixel-art scene: charges filed in federal court
charges filed in federal court

Apple Valley parolee's traffic stop leads deputies to an AK-47 and a pound and a half of meth

0.68 kg methamphetamine · 6 firearmsApple Valley, California1 arrested

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies stopped 49-year-old parolee James Moore near Choco Road on August 27 and found about a pound of suspected methamphetamine in his vehicle; a follow-up search of his residence on Pamlico Road turned up another half-pound of meth, two ounces of suspected cocaine, two ounces of psilocybin mushrooms, six firearms including an AK-47 and an unserialized weapon, digital scales and $1,300 in cash. Moore was booked on suspicion of possessing narcotics for sale and for violating his parole.

SourceVictor Valley News
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 0.68 kg methamphetamine , 6 firearms
680 g meth · all 6 guns

3South America

Brazil — a Canadian's hashish, a body-strapped courier and cocaine hidden in an electric motor, all caught at Guarulhos in one day

16 kg hashish · 14 kg cocaineGuarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil2 arrested

Federal Police at São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport made three separate catches on August 26. A Canadian woman arriving from Toronto was arrested with about 16 kilograms of hashish in her luggage; a Paraguayan man was stopped before boarding a flight to Lisbon with roughly 2 kilograms of cocaine strapped to his body; and officers screening outbound cargo found another 12 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside an electric motor bound for Taiwan.

SourcePolícia Federal
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 16 kg hashish , 14 kg cocaine
16 × 1 kg hash · 14 × 1 kg cocaine

Bolivia — 378 kilos of cocaine found in a refrigerated truck's false ceiling on the road to Bermejo

378 kg cocaineBermejo, Tarija, Bolivia1 arrested

Bolivia's anti-narcotics police (FELCN) stopped a refrigerated truck hauling mattresses from Oruro toward Bermejo late on August 19 after the driver grew visibly nervous at a checkpoint. A search uncovered a hidden compartment built into the top of the cargo box holding 360 brick-shaped packages of cocaine weighing about 378 kilograms, with an estimated value of $650,000 to $830,000. The driver was taken into custody and given 180 days of preventive detention while the case continues.

SourceEl Deber
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 378 kg cocaine
38 × 10 kg cocaine

Colombia captures the Ecuadorian boss of Los Tiguerones, a hitman gang tied to Los Choneros

Armenia, Quindío, Colombia1 arrested

A joint operation by Colombian and Ecuadorian police and Colombia's Attorney General's Office captured Eduardo Cecilio Vásquez Ortiz, alias "Colombia," in Armenia, Quindío on August 26. Ecuadorian authorities describe him as a longtime leader of Los Tiguerones, a contract-killing and trafficking outfit with more than two decades of alleged violence behind it; he escaped Ecuador's La Roca prison in 2013, was recaptured in Brazil and extradited, then walked away from a conditional release in 2022 and continued directing the gang's activities from Colombia.

SourceInfobae
Pixel-art scene: suspect flown out for prosecution
suspect flown out for prosecution

Colombia's army pulls 50 kilos of marijuana, bagged for shipment, out of Yumbo

50 kg cannabisYumbo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Soldiers from the Colombian Army's Third Brigade seized 44 packages of marijuana weighing more than 50 kilograms in Yumbo, Valle del Cauca on August 29, describing the load as ready for transport along one of the department's trafficking corridors. The shipment was turned over to prosecutors, who are working to trace its origin and identify those responsible.

SourceInfobae
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 50 kg cannabis
2 × 25 kg cannabis

4Rest of World

Ireland — €2.3 million in cocaine, MDMA and cannabis seized in a Dublin suburb handover

22 kg cocaine · 4 kg cannabisBlanchardstown, Dublin, Ireland2 arrested

Gardaí watched a drug handover in public in Blanchardstown, Dublin on August 29 and seized about 18 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated €1.8 million; a follow-up search of a nearby vehicle turned up another 4 kilograms of cocaine, and further searches recovered 5,000 MDMA tablets and 4 kilograms of cannabis herb. Two men in their 50s and 60s were arrested and detained under drug trafficking legislation, and Forensic Science Ireland is analyzing the haul.

SourceTheJournal.ie
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 22 kg cocaine , 4 kg cannabis
22 × 1 kg cocaine · 4 kg cannabis

India — Kerala police call a 12.8-kilo MDMA seizure one of the state's biggest-ever drug busts

12.8 kg MDMAMalappuram, Kerala, India3 arrested

Malappuram district police's special investigation team, working under the anti-narcotics push "Operation Thoofan," arrested three men in Coimbatore on August 29 after finding roughly 12.8 kilograms of high-purity MDMA — worth more than 10 crore rupees at street prices — hidden inside the door panels of an SUV. Police said the network flew to Delhi and Mumbai to source the drug and drove it back into Kerala in luxury vehicles bought specifically for the job, using towns in Tamil Nadu as transit points.

SourceANI
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 12.8 kg MDMA
26 × 500 g mdma

India — railway couriers caught with 18 kilos of amphetamine and MDMA in Bengaluru and Pune

17.4 kg amphetamine · 0.9 kg MDMABengaluru and Pune, India4 arrested

India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence intercepted two women rail passengers on August 25 in separate operations. At Bengaluru's KSR station, a woman traveling from New Delhi was found carrying about 14.9 kilograms of amphetamine; at Pune Junction, another passenger from Delhi was carrying 2.53 kilograms of amphetamine and 878 grams of MDMA tablets. Four people were arrested across the two cases under India's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

SourceANI
Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 17.4 kg amphetamine , 0.9 kg MDMA
2 × 500 g ≈ 900 g mdma

5Ongoing Stories with New Developments

Nothing significant in the past 24 hours.

2026 Running Tally

Total weight intercepted across every story covered so far this year, through Aug 30, 2026. Counts seizures only — sentencings and indictments are not double-counted — and resets to zero each 1 January. Earlier years are kept below.

37.6 t 7 editions · 27 places · 13 substances

United States

Puerto Rico1 substance3.3 t
  • cocaine3.3 t
Texas3 substances1.3 t
  • methamphetamine1.3 t
  • cannabis1.8 kg
  • cocaine7 g
Illinois1 substance532 kg
  • khat532 kg
New York3 substances284 kg
  • cocaine277 kg
  • fentanyl7.5 kg
  • fentanyl/heroin250 g
Kentucky2 substances20 kg
  • methamphetamine20 kg
  • fentanyl60 g
West Virginia3 substances4.8 kg
  • methamphetamine3.6 kg
  • fentanyl909 g
  • cocaine233 g
Tennessee3 substances3.5 kg
  • methamphetamine2 kg
  • fentanyl1 kg
  • cocaine500 g
Alabama3 substances3.3 kg
  • methamphetamine2.3 kg
  • cocaine1 kg
  • fentanyl21 g
Nebraska2 substances2.4 kg
  • methamphetamine2.4 kg
  • cocaine17 g
Ohio1 substance2 kg
  • cocaine2 kg
California1 substance680 g
  • methamphetamine680 g

International

Spain1 substance11.3 t
  • hashish11.3 t
Portugal1 substance5.3 t
  • hashish5.3 t
Colombia3 substances4.9 t
  • cocaine4.5 t
  • coca base300 kg
  • cannabis54 kg
Ecuador2 substances3.9 t
  • cocaine3.5 t
  • cannabis400 kg
Indonesia1 substance2.6 t
  • methamphetamine2.6 t
Brazil3 substances2.4 t
  • cannabis1.8 t
  • cocaine577 kg
  • hashish36 kg
Argentina2 substances399 kg
  • cannabis340 kg
  • cocaine59 kg
Bolivia1 substance378 kg
  • cocaine378 kg
Peru1 substance364 kg
  • cocaine364 kg
South Africa1 substance334 kg
  • cocaine334 kg
Afghanistan1 substance101 kg
  • opium101 kg
India4 substances81 kg
  • cannabis45 kg
  • amphetamine17 kg
  • mdma14 kg
  • heroin5.2 kg
Ireland2 substances26 kg
  • cocaine22 kg
  • cannabis4 kg
Italy1 substance17 kg
  • methamphetamine17 kg
Mexico2 substances17 kg
  • fentanyl9.1 kg
  • heroin7.7 kg
Malaysia2 substances12 kg
  • mdma11 kg
  • ketamine630 g