Edition O'012

Drug News Roundup

Friday, September 4, 2026 · 8 stories

Covering reporting published in the past 24-48 hours (Sept 3-4). South America got dedicated effort, turning up fresh Brazil and Venezuela busts after most Colombian, Peruvian and Bolivian leads proved to be stale year-to-date tallies or the same Cabo de la Vela/Cartagena cocaine interception already logged yesterday. No new SOUTHCOM/Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere strike or materially new development in the one-year-anniversary story occurred in this window, so the ongoing section is empty today.

1National / Federal (US)

Laredo bridges — CBP dogs sniff out nearly $3 million in cocaine in two tractor-trailers

101 kg cocaineLaredo, Texas0 reported

CBP officers at the Colombia Solidarity Bridge stopped a tractor-trailer on August 21 and found about 80.7 pounds of cocaine after a canine alert; three days later at the World Trade Bridge, officers opened a trailer manifested as "car parts" and found roughly 141.5 pounds more. Combined, the two loads came to about 222 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $2.97 million, and Homeland Security Investigations is now working both cases.

SourceCBP / KGNS

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 101 kg cocaine — 10 × 10 kg cocaine

2Local US Arrests

Florida — Polk County's "Operation End of Worlds" nets 39 arrests and a four-drug haul

2 kg fentanyl, 1 kg methPolk County, Florida39 arrested

Polk County Sheriff's detectives, working with the HIDTA task force, FDLE and Auburndale police, spent months building a wiretap and surveillance case against an alleged trafficking network led by a 44-year-old recently released from state prison. Four search warrants executed around Lakeland and Auburndale turned up about 4.4 pounds of fentanyl, 2.2 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.5 pounds of cocaine and 7.8 pounds of marijuana, plus two firearms — including a Glock reported stolen from the Tampa Police Department — and roughly $4,650 in cash; 39 people face a combined 249 felony and 42 misdemeanor charges, with 18 facing 25-year mandatory-minimum trafficking counts.

SourcePolk County Sheriff's Office / Hoodline

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 2 kg fentanyl, 1 kg meth — 4 × 500 g fentanyl · 1 kg meth

Florida — Fort Pierce felon caught with 33 pounds of marijuana and $150,000 in cash

15 kg cannabisFort Pierce, Florida1 arrested

St. Lucie County Sheriff's detectives, backed by SWAT and the U.S. Marshals Service, searched a Cedar Place home on September 3 and found about 33 pounds of marijuana — just over the state's 25-pound trafficking threshold — along with more than $150,000 in cash, several firearms, a currency counter and packaging material. Stacy Tyrner, 59, a convicted felon, was arrested and charged with marijuana trafficking, felon in possession of a firearm and related counts.

SourceHoodline

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 15 kg cannabis — 15 kg cannabis

3South America

Brazil — highway task force pulls 255 kilos of cocaine, marijuana and hashish from a truck in Bahia

54 kg cocaine, 198 kg cannabisVitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil1 arrested

A joint operation by the Federal Highway Police, Bahia's military police and the Federal Police stopped an Iveco truck on the BR-116 in Vitória da Conquista before dawn on September 3, finding about 197.5 kilos of marijuana, 54.1 kilos of cocaine hydrochloride and 3.6 kilos of hashish hidden aboard, along with two dozen e-cigarettes barred from sale in Brazil. The driver, who had his teenage son riding along, was arrested on trafficking and smuggling charges as part of the state's permanent organized-crime task force, FICCO.

SourcePortal Jaguarari

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 54 kg cocaine, 198 kg cannabis — 8 × 25 kg cannabis · 5 × 10 kg ≈ 54 kg cocaine

Venezuela — national police seize 105 kilos of genetically modified marijuana on an Apure highway

105 kg cannabisApure, Venezuela3 arrested

Officers from the Bolivarian National Police's anti-drug division stopped a shipment on the national highway through Elorza parish in Apure state on September 2, finding roughly 104.6 kilos of what authorities described as genetically modified marijuana packed in 100 bundles, along with a motorcycle and phone used to coordinate the run. Three people were arrested and turned over to the Public Ministry on drug-trafficking charges.

SourceCactus24

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 105 kg cannabis — 4 × 25 kg ≈ 105 kg cannabis

4Rest of World

Spain — Guardia Civil chases down a narco-boat off Gran Canaria carrying 3.4 tonnes of cocaine

3.4 t cocaineGran Canaria, Spain5 detained

The Guardia Civil's maritime service spotted a fast boat with several powerful outboard engines about 70 miles south of Gran Canaria on September 4 and ordered it to stop; when it tried to flee, agents pursued and caught it after evasive maneuvers failed. Officers found 139 packages of cocaine weighing roughly 3,360 kilos aboard, along with two firearms carried by the five crew members, who were detained.

SourceCanarias7

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 3.4 t cocaine — 34 × 100 kg cocaine

South Africa — lost goats lead police to a suspected "Cat" drug lab on a North West farm

North West province, South Africa1 arrested

Police responding to a report of missing goats found a suspected methcathinone ("Cat") manufacturing operation on a farm near Jericho, North West province, on September 3, seizing raw materials, chemicals, lab equipment and a finished product believed to be the drug. A 62-year-old man was arrested and is due in the Brits Magistrate's Court, while three others fled the scene; the case has been handed to the Hawks organized-crime unit.

SourceTimesLIVE

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

Panama — customs finds 290 packages of suspected drugs in a container bound from Ecuador to Spain

290 packagesPanama Bay, Panama0 reported

Panama's Drug Prosecution Section, working with the national anti-drug directorate, profiled and searched a shipping container aboard a vessel anchored in Panama Bay on September 2, finding 290 rectangular packages of a suspected illicit substance. Investigators say the cargo originated in Ecuador and was declared bound for Barcelona; the packages have been sent for lab testing to confirm the substance and weight, and no arrests have been announced yet.

SourceTVN Panamá

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 290 packages — all 290 packages

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 Sep 4, 2026. Counts seizures only — sentencings and indictments are not double-counted — and resets to zero each 1 January. Earlier years are kept below.

51.2 t 12 editions · 41 places · 13 substances

United States

Puerto Rico1 substance3.3 t

cocaine3.3 t

Texas3 substances1.5 t

methamphetamine1.3 t
cocaine183 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

Florida4 substances30 kg

cannabis19 kg
cocaine8.3 kg
fentanyl2 kg
methamphetamine1.4 kg

Kentucky2 substances20 kg

methamphetamine20 kg
fentanyl60 g

South Carolina2 substances7.9 kg

fentanyl4.1 kg
methamphetamine3.8 kg

Missouri2 substances6 kg

cocaine3.5 kg
fentanyl2.5 kg

North Dakota2 substances5.6 kg

methamphetamine5.4 kg
cocaine155 g

West Virginia3 substances4.8 kg

methamphetamine3.6 kg
fentanyl909 g
cocaine233 g

Tennessee3 substances4.7 kg

fentanyl2.2 kg
methamphetamine2 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

Spain2 substances14.6 t

hashish11.3 t
cocaine3.4 t

Brazil3 substances7.0 t

cannabis6.4 t
cocaine635 kg
hashish40 kg

Colombia3 substances5.6 t

cocaine5.2 t
coca base300 kg
cannabis54 kg

Portugal1 substance5.3 t

hashish5.3 t

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

Chile2 substances310 kg

cannabis302 kg
cocaine7.2 kg

Thailand1 substance166 kg

methamphetamine166 kg

Hong Kong2 substances141 kg

cocaine76 kg
ketamine65 kg

Venezuela1 substance105 kg

cannabis105 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

Canada5 substances13 kg

mdma6.9 kg
fentanyl3.1 kg
methamphetamine2.2 kg
cocaine481 g
cannabis479 g

Philippines1 substance2.1 kg

methamphetamine2.1 kg