Edition O'010

Drug News Roundup

Wednesday, September 2, 2026 · 8 stories

Covering reporting published in the past 24-48 hours (Sept 1-2). No new SOUTHCOM/Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere vessel strike was found in this window beyond the Aug. 25 Caribbean strike and Aug. 28 refueling-vessel interdiction already logged in prior editions, so the military counter-narcotics beat sits out today. DEA, CBP and DOJ press releases were thin nationally; the one federal item found is a regional DEA field-office stash-house bust.

1National / Federal (US)

Texas — DEA and state troopers pull 82 kilos of cocaine and $700,000 from a Mission stash house

82 kg cocaineMission, Texas2 arrested

DEA's McAllen office and Texas Department of Public Safety agents raided a house in Mission around 8:50 p.m. on Sunday, August 30, finding 72 foil-and-plastic-wrapped cocaine bricks weighing about 82 kilograms hidden under a bed. A search of the kitchen freezer and master bedroom turned up more than $700,000 in cash bundled into two dozen packages. Two people were arrested.

SourceKVEO

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 82 kg cocaine — 8 × 10 kg ≈ 82 kg cocaine

2Local US Arrests

Pennsylvania — wiretaps unravel a Montgomery County cocaine and marijuana ring, ten charged

113.4 kg cannabis (250 lb)Montgomery County, Pennsylvania7 arrested, 3 sought

Montgomery County prosecutors said a months-long wiretap investigation traced a drug-trafficking operation running from Norristown into Chester and Delaware counties, including a storage facility in Devon used to process bulk marijuana. The case, announced September 1, produced about 250 pounds of marijuana, roughly $110,000 in cash and a dozen firearms. Ten people face charges; seven have been arrested, and three others — including alleged leader Sean Scott, held separately in Florida awaiting extradition — remain sought.

Source6ABC Philadelphia

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 113.4 kg cannabis (250 lb) — 5 × 25 kg ≈ 113 kg cannabis

3South America

Brazil — driver held after 4 tonnes of high-THC "skunk" cannabis found in a truck's hidden compartment

4,086.9 kg cannabisCristalina, Goiás, Brazil1 arrested

Federal Highway Police stopped a truck at a checkpoint on BR-040 in Cristalina, Goiás, on August 29 and found a concealed compartment packed with 3,420 blocks of plant material, weighing an estimated 4,086.9 kilograms. Prosecutors converted the driver's arrest into pretrial detention the next day; he told investigators he had loaded the skunk marijuana in the Federal District for a R$17,000 delivery fee to Belo Horizonte. Police called it the largest skunk seizure the highway patrol has made in the capital region this year.

SourceJornal de Brasília

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 4,086.9 kg cannabis — 3 × 25 kg ≈ 87 kg cannabis

Brazil — bus passenger caught with 26 kilos of marijuana and a rifle magazine on a Bahia highway

26 kg cannabisFeira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil1 arrested

Federal Highway Police stopped an interstate bus at kilometer 429 of BR-116 in Feira de Santana, Bahia, on the morning of September 1 and found a woman traveling from Rio de Janeiro with about a kilogram of marijuana in a backpack. A further search of the bus's lower luggage hold turned up another 25 kilograms, along with a rifle magazine and 37 rounds of ammunition. She was headed to Capela do Alto Alegre and was booked at the Sobradinho police complex.

SourceInterior da Bahia

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 26 kg cannabis — 26 kg cannabis

Argentina — Mendoza police seize 34 kilos of cocaine and $18,200 in a Guaymallén raid

34 kg cocaineGuaymallén, Mendoza, Argentina3 arrested

Anti-narcotics police in Guaymallén, Mendoza province, intercepted nearly 34 kilograms of high-purity cocaine wrapped in green-and-yellow tape on September 2, along with $18,200 in cash; three people were detained and the case went to federal court to trace the shipment's origin and destination. Alongside it, a separate Federal Police investigation carried out twelve simultaneous raids in Las Heras and Guaymallén, arresting five more people accused of running a local distribution network.

SourceKCH FM

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 34 kg cocaine — 34 × 1 kg cocaine

4Rest of World

Australia — Canberra commits $600 million to choke Pacific drug-smuggling routes

Australia / Pacific Islands

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced an AU$600 million "Waqa Moana" initiative at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau on September 2, funding ocean surveillance, interception of smuggling boats and narco-submarines, and closer police coordination across Pacific nations alongside cooperation with South and Central American authorities. Officials pointed to more than 17 tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine seized in Australia so far this year, up from 5.5 tonnes in all of 2025, as evidence traffickers are increasingly routing shipments through the Pacific toward Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

SourceABC News (Australia)

Pixel-art scene: semi-submersible intercepted — semi-submersible intercepted

Nigeria — Kaduna anti-drug command reports 140 arrests and 816 kilos seized in a month of raids

Kaduna State, Nigeria140 arrested

The NDLEA's Kaduna State Command said operations across the state in August led to 140 arrests and the seizure of roughly 816.5 kilograms of drugs, most of it cannabis, with smaller amounts of cocaine, tramadol, methamphetamine and other substances. Commander Maijama'a Muhammad said agents also shut down 107 suspected drug dens and recovered ammunition and a locally made pistol during the sweep.

SourceBusinessDay Nigeria

5Ongoing Stories with New Developments

Sri Lanka meth bust — DEA reveals it was a joint operation with a bigger haul than first reported

Colombo, Sri Lanka5 arrested

A day after Colombo Port authorities announced a 463-kilogram methamphetamine seizure, the US DEA and Sri Lanka's Police Narcotics Bureau disclosed on September 2 that the bust was a joint operation, built on tracking shipping containers from Pakistan between August 14 and 29. Updated figures put the haul at about 471 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, valued near $21 million and hidden in bath towels, with five people now under arrest — three Pakistani nationals and two Sri Lankans — up from the two Pakistani nationals reported the day before.

SourceEuronews

2026 Running Tally

Total weight intercepted across every story covered so far this year, through Sep 2, 2026. Counts seizures only — sentencings and indictments are not double-counted — and resets to zero each 1 January. Earlier years are kept below.

46.3 t 10 editions · 35 places · 13 substances

United States

Puerto Rico1 substance3.3 t

cocaine3.3 t

Texas3 substances1.4 t

methamphetamine1.3 t
cocaine82 kg
cannabis1.8 kg

Illinois1 substance532 kg

khat532 kg

New York3 substances284 kg

cocaine277 kg
fentanyl7.5 kg
fentanyl/heroin250 g

Pennsylvania1 substance113 kg

cannabis113 kg

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

Brazil3 substances6.8 t

cannabis6.2 t
cocaine577 kg
hashish36 kg

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

Mexico4 substances2.1 t

cannabis1.8 t
methamphetamine284 kg
fentanyl9.1 kg
heroin7.7 kg

Nigeria1 substance1.1 t

cannabis1.1 t

Sri Lanka1 substance463 kg

methamphetamine463 kg

Argentina2 substances433 kg

cannabis340 kg
cocaine93 kg

Bolivia1 substance378 kg

cocaine378 kg

Peru1 substance364 kg

cocaine364 kg

South Africa1 substance334 kg

cocaine334 kg

Thailand1 substance166 kg

methamphetamine166 kg

Hong Kong2 substances141 kg

cocaine76 kg
ketamine65 kg

Afghanistan1 substance101 kg

opium101 kg

Malaysia3 substances98 kg

methamphetamine86 kg
mdma11 kg
ketamine630 g

India4 substances81 kg

cannabis45 kg
amphetamine17 kg
mdma14 kg
heroin5.2 kg

Ireland2 substances26 kg

cocaine22 kg
cannabis4 kg

Pakistan1 substance23 kg

heroin23 kg

Italy1 substance17 kg

methamphetamine17 kg