Drug News Roundup

2Local US Arrests

Florida — Plant City traffic stop leads to a 16-pound cocaine haul and a gun cache with illegal 'switches'

7.6 kg cocaine · 0.45 kg methPlant City, Florida1 arrested

Hillsborough County deputies stopped Lino Moctezuma Rosas, 33, on August 27 and found about 9 ounces of cocaine in his vehicle; a follow-up search warrant at his Plant City home turned up another 16.2 pounds of cocaine, a pound of methamphetamine, five firearms including an AK-platform rifle and a Kel-Tec submachine gun fitted with illegal automatic "switches," and nearly $80,000 in cash. Rosas faces armed cocaine trafficking and weapons charges.

SourceCBS12

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 7.6 kg cocaine , 0.45 kg meth — 8 × 1 kg ≈ 7.6 kg cocaine · 450 g meth

South Carolina — state grand jury indicts eight in 'Pressed for Time' fentanyl pill-press ring

4.1 kg fentanyl · 3.8 kg methGreenwood County, South Carolina8 indicted

South Carolina's Attorney General announced August 25 that a State Grand Jury had indicted eight people tied to a fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking operation based in Greenwood and Abbeville counties with ties reaching into Aiken, McCormick, Anderson, Greenville and Richland counties. Investigators said the group used illegal pill presses to manufacture fentanyl-laced blue pills, and the probe recovered about 4,119 grams of fentanyl and 3,782 grams of methamphetamine.

SourceWIS-TV

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 4.1 kg fentanyl , 3.8 kg meth — 8 × 500 g ≈ 4.1 kg fentanyl · 4 × 1 kg ≈ 3.8 kg meth

Connecticut — Willimantic traffic stop turns up 534 bags of fentanyl

534 bags fentanylWillimantic, Connecticut1 arrested

Willimantic police stopped a vehicle just after 2 a.m. on August 29 near Park Avenue and Jackson Street after K-9 Drogo alerted during a free-air sniff; a search produced 534 individually packaged bags of suspected fentanyl, about 15 grams of crack cocaine, paraphernalia and $2,329 in cash. Alexis Raphael Tribouillier, 29, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to sell and sale of over half an ounce of cocaine.

SourceWFSB

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

3South America

Colombia leads a 30-country operation that seized 4.7 tonnes of cocaine over three weeks

4,687 kg cocaine (3-week total)Colombia8 captured

Colombia's air force led Operation Zeus Arcano III from August 11 to 30, coordinating with agencies from 30 countries to fly 92 aerial missions and inspect 102 clandestine airstrips nationwide. The operation seized 4,687 kilograms of cocaine and 22 kilograms of THC, captured eight people and two speedboats, and President Abelardo De la Espriella said it stripped more than $157 million from organized crime's finances.

SourceSemana

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 4,687 kg cocaine (3-week total) — 7 × 100 kg cocaine

Brazil — 185 kilos of marijuana found hidden in a van's roof at the Paraguay border bridge

185 kg cannabisFoz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil

Brazil's federal revenue service searched a van crossing the Friendship Bridge from Paraguay into Foz do Iguaçu on August 28 and found a hidden compartment built into the roof holding about 185 kilograms of pressed marijuana.

SourceRádio Cultura Foz

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 185 kg cannabis — 7 × 25 kg ≈ 185 kg cannabis

Argentina — anti-narcotics police dismantle 18 drug sales points in Córdoba, arrest 11

1,862 doses cocaineCórdoba, Argentina11 arrested

Argentina's Antinarcotics Police Force closed out a five-month investigation on August 30 with raids on nine drug-selling points in Calamuchita department and another nine in the city of Córdoba, arresting 11 people including two Peruvian nationals identified as cocaine suppliers. Officers seized roughly 1,862 doses of cocaine, 118 doses of marijuana, eight cannabis plants, a revolver and more than $1.26 million pesos in cash.

SourceHoy Día Córdoba

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 1,862 doses cocaine — plus the tablets

4Rest of World

Hong Kong — seven-week 'Tailbacker' crackdown nets 321 arrests and 231 kilos of cocaine and ketamine

76 kg cocaine · 65 kg ketamineHong Kong321 arrested

Hong Kong police wrapped up "Operation Tailbacker," a citywide crackdown running from July 12 to August 29, with 321 arrests ranging in age from 13 to 72 across 234 drug cases. Seized drugs included 76 kilograms of cocaine, 65 kilograms of ketamine, smaller amounts of heroin, cannabis and methamphetamine, 3.7 liters of liquid etomidate and 6,400 etomidate vape pods, together valued at about HK$130 million.

SourceSouth China Morning Post

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 76 kg cocaine , 65 kg ketamine — 8 × 10 kg ≈ 76 kg cocaine

Nigeria — captagon hidden in soap and 3.9 million opioid pills intercepted at Lagos airport

2,787 kg opioid pills · 1,069 kg cannabisLagos and Ondo State, Nigeria6 arrested

Nigeria's drug agency arrested Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, 49, at Lagos's international airport after finding 47,200 captagon tablets — the so-called "jihadi drug" — hidden inside bars of soap in luggage arriving from Ghana. Separately, officers recovered four abandoned air shipments of Tramadol and Tapentadol pills totaling roughly 3.9 million tablets and 2,787 kilograms sent from Bangladesh and Amsterdam, and seized more than a tonne of skunk cannabis in a linked Ondo state operation that led to five more arrests; NDLEA valued the combined seizures at over 6.2 billion naira.

SourceThisDay

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 2,787 kg opioid pills , 1,069 kg cannabis — 3 × 25 kg ≈ 69 kg cannabis · plus the tablets

South Africa — three arrested as police seize R1.5 million in mixed drugs in Gqeberha

R1.5M mixed drugsGqeberha, South Africa3 arrested

South African police raided a Parliament Street address in central Gqeberha on August 27 under Operation UKUBUZA, arresting three men — two of them foreign nationals — and recovering a mix of dagga, tik, khat, cocaine and mandrax tablets worth an estimated R1.5 million, along with smoking pipes, syringes and a digital scale.

SourceJoburg ETC

Pixel-art scene: raid and arrests — raid and arrests

2026 Running Tally

Total weight intercepted across every story covered so far this year, through Aug 31, 2026. Counts seizures only — sentencings and indictments are not double-counted — and resets to zero each 1 January. Earlier years are kept below.

39.0 t 8 editions · 31 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

Florida2 substances8 kg

cocaine7.6 kg
methamphetamine450 g

South Carolina2 substances7.9 kg

fentanyl4.1 kg
methamphetamine3.8 kg

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

Brazil3 substances2.6 t

cannabis2.0 t
cocaine577 kg
hashish36 kg

Indonesia1 substance2.6 t

methamphetamine2.6 t

Nigeria1 substance1.1 t

cannabis1.1 t

Argentina2 substances399 kg

cannabis340 kg
cocaine59 kg

Bolivia1 substance378 kg

cocaine378 kg

Peru1 substance364 kg

cocaine364 kg

South Africa1 substance334 kg

cocaine334 kg

Hong Kong2 substances141 kg

cocaine76 kg
ketamine65 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

In this edition

1National / Federal (US)