Edition O'019

Drug News Roundup

Saturday, September 12, 2026 · 8 stories

Covering reporting published since the Sept 11 edition, roughly Sept 11-12, with several incident dates running back to Sept 6-10 where indexing lagged. South America again got dedicated effort in Spanish and Portuguese, turning up three distinct operations plus a related capture. Excluded after review: a widely recirculated 'DEA-led raid off Ecuador nets 3,284 kilos of cocaine' story whose only source is an undated social-media post with no incident date or location, making it unverifiable; an Aurora, Colorado stash-house indictment tied to the Jalisco cartel that was unsealed August 24 and is now over two weeks stale; a Yuma, Arizona liquid-meth stop, a Jacksonville fentanyl raid, an Otay Mesa liquid-meth seizure and a McAllen cash-and-cocaine bust that all trace to incidents in the first half of August or early September; and a Polk County, Florida 'Operation End of Worlds' fentanyl takedown already about a week stale. No further development emerged in the SOUTHCOM refueling-vessel or vessel-strike campaigns, or in Uruguay's Artigas cocaine-airdrop case, since the last edition.

1National / Federal (US)

Homeland Security-led 'Operation Gulf-Line' sweep nets 30-plus arrests along Mississippi's I-10 corridor

4.8 kg meth, 2.9 kg cocaineHarrison County, Mississippi30+ arrested

Homeland Security Investigations led a three-day interdiction operation ending September 11 with Harrison County's narcotics task force, sheriff's office and police departments in Biloxi, Gulfport and Madison, Mississippi, arresting more than 30 people on aggravated-trafficking and other felony charges along the I-10 corridor. The sweep recovered about 10.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 6.5 pounds of cocaine, 21 pounds of marijuana, 25 grams of fentanyl and 140 grams of MDMA, plus $82,000 in cash, for a combined street value authorities put above $500,000.

SourceWDAM

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 4.8 kg meth, 2.9 kg cocaine — 5 × 1 kg ≈ 4.8 kg meth · 3 × 1 kg ≈ 2.9 kg cocaine

2Local US Arrests

Massachusetts State Police fentanyl-and-cocaine bust in Chicopee turns up $150,000 and two guns

443 g fentanyl, 218 g cocaineChicopee, Massachusetts2 arrested

Massachusetts State Police gang-unit detectives, working with DEA's Springfield office and local police, searched addresses in Chicopee and Springfield on September 10 and arrested Chicopee residents Jan Mejia and Michael Angee. Investigators seized 443 grams of fentanyl, 218 grams of cocaine, two firearms, two vehicles and $150,000 in cash; Mejia faces additional firearms charges.

SourceShrewsbury Post

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 443 g fentanyl, 218 g cocaine — 443 g fentanyl · 218 g cocaine

3South America

Argentina's Gendarmería finds 49.5 kg of cocaine hidden in bus passengers' backpacks near Salta

49.5 kg cocaineSalta, Argentina3 arrested

Gendarmería Nacional's Cabeza de Buey road-safety unit stopped a passenger bus at the junction of national routes 9 and 34 in Salta province on September 11 and found 47 packages of cocaine, weighing about 49.5 kilograms, hidden inside four backpacks belonging to three passengers. The two men and one woman, all Argentine nationals, were detained.

SourceArgentina.gob.ar

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 49.5 kg cocaine — 5 × 10 kg cocaine

Brazil's Rondônia police seize 363 kg of marijuana hidden in two cars on border highway BR-429

364 kg cannabisSeringueiras, Rondônia, Brazil2 arrested

Military Police stopped two vehicles on BR-429 in Seringueiras, Rondônia, near the Bolivian border, on September 10 and found roughly 363.6 kilograms of marijuana. Two drivers were arrested; a third occupant fled on foot. The men told police they had been offered 15,000 to 20,000 reais to drive the load to Rolim de Moura.

SourceDiário RO

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 364 kg cannabis — 15 × 25 kg ≈ 364 kg cannabis

Colombian police and DEA dismantle a Clan del Golfo money-laundering ring, seize $12 million in assets

Antioquia and Valle del Cauca, Colombia10 arrested

Colombia's National Police, working with the DEA, arrested 10 alleged members of the Clan del Golfo crime syndicate in coordinated raids across Antioquia and Valle del Cauca on September 10, accusing the group of laundering proceeds from cocaine trafficked to the United States. Prosecutors applied asset-forfeiture orders to 39 properties, companies and vehicles worth more than $12 million.

SourceInfobae

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

4Rest of World

Mexican troops rescue eight forced laborers from a CJNG 'recovery clinic' in Jalisco

Tecalitlán, Jalisco, Mexico6 arrested

Mexican security forces raided a clandestine clinic on a ranch in Tecalitlán, Jalisco, on September 6 that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel allegedly used to treat wounded operatives, freeing eight people whom prosecutors said had been forcibly recruited and held against their will — two of them needing crutches to walk. Six suspected guards, aged 21 to 48, were arrested, and authorities seized drugs, weapons and ammunition at the site. The raid grew out of a missing-persons investigation into a 20-year-old man who disappeared in late July after answering a fraudulent job posting.

SourceAl Jazeera

Pakistan's Hyderabad police arrest 45 drug dealers in a 10-day sweep, seize hashish and crystal meth

71.9 kg hashish, 2 kg methHyderabad, Pakistan45 arrested

District police in Hyderabad, Sindh province, wrapped up a 10-day crackdown announced September 12 that arrested 45 alleged drug dealers and smugglers along with 19 other wanted criminals. Officers recovered about 71.9 kilograms of charas hashish and 2.05 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, plus liquor, whisky and gutka tobacco, and confiscated eight pistols.

SourceThe Nation (Pakistan)

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 71.9 kg hashish, 2 kg meth — 7 × 10 kg ≈ 72 kg hash · 2 × 1 kg meth

5Ongoing Stories with New Developments

Colombia captures a second Los Tiguerones leader days after the US designates the gang a terrorist organization

Soacha, Colombia1 arrested

Colombian police captured Ecuadorian national Guido Fernando Rodríguez Vargas, alias 'Comandante 7,' in Soacha, near Bogotá, on September 10 — a second high-level Los Tiguerones capture in Colombia after a different boss was arrested in late August. Authorities describe Rodríguez Vargas as the gang's logistics coordinator and border liaison to FARC dissident factions led by alias 'Iván Mordisco,' and say he is wanted on homicide, narco-trafficking and money-laundering charges. The capture comes days after the State Department designated Los Tiguerones a foreign terrorist organization on September 9.

SourceInfobae

2026 Running Tally

Total weight intercepted across every story covered so far this year, through Sep 12, 2026. Counts seizures only — sentencings and indictments are not double-counted — and resets to zero each 1 January. Earlier years are kept below.

99.3 t 19 editions · 48 places · 13 substances

United States

Puerto Rico1 substance3.3 t

cocaine3.3 t

Texas3 substances1.6 t

methamphetamine1.3 t
cocaine228 kg
cannabis1.8 kg

Illinois1 substance532 kg

khat532 kg

New York3 substances284 kg

cocaine277 kg
fentanyl7.5 kg
fentanyl/heroin250 g

Indiana1 substance126 kg

cocaine126 kg

Pennsylvania1 substance113 kg

cannabis113 kg

Florida4 substances36 kg

cannabis19 kg
cocaine9.6 kg
fentanyl5 kg
methamphetamine2.8 kg

Minnesota2 substances28 kg

methamphetamine27 kg
cocaine883 g

Kentucky2 substances20 kg

methamphetamine20 kg
fentanyl60 g

Mississippi5 substances17 kg

cannabis9.5 kg
methamphetamine4.8 kg
cocaine3 kg
mdma140 g
fentanyl25 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

Massachusetts2 substances2 kg

fentanyl1.7 kg
cocaine316 g

Ohio1 substance2 kg

cocaine2 kg

California1 substance680 g

methamphetamine680 g

International

Mexico4 substances19.1 t

methamphetamine17.2 t
cannabis1.8 t
fentanyl9.1 kg
heroin7.7 kg

Spain2 substances14.6 t

hashish11.3 t
cocaine3.4 t

Brazil3 substances13.9 t

cannabis11.5 t
cocaine2.4 t
hashish40 kg

Ecuador2 substances10.7 t

cocaine9.8 t
cannabis900 kg

Colombia3 substances9.1 t

cocaine6.8 t
cannabis1.6 t
coca base684 kg

Nigeria3 substances6.9 t

cannabis6.9 t
methamphetamine2 kg
cocaine350 g

Portugal1 substance5.3 t

hashish5.3 t

France1 substance3.9 t

cocaine3.9 t

Indonesia1 substance2.6 t

methamphetamine2.6 t

Romania3 substances1.6 t

hashish1.3 t
cannabis228 kg
cocaine114 kg

Venezuela1 substance905 kg

cannabis905 kg

Argentina2 substances828 kg

cannabis507 kg
cocaine321 kg

Peru2 substances614 kg

cocaine364 kg
coca base250 kg

Pakistan4 substances479 kg

hashish301 kg
heroin173 kg
opium2.4 kg
methamphetamine2 kg

Sri Lanka1 substance463 kg

methamphetamine463 kg

Uruguay2 substances408 kg

cocaine305 kg
coca base103 kg

Bolivia1 substance405 kg

cocaine405 kg

South Africa1 substance336 kg

cocaine336 kg

Chile2 substances310 kg

cannabis302 kg
cocaine7.2 kg

Thailand1 substance166 kg

methamphetamine166 kg

India5 substances146 kg

methamphetamine65 kg
cannabis45 kg
amphetamine17 kg
mdma14 kg
heroin5.3 kg

Hong Kong2 substances141 kg

cocaine76 kg
ketamine65 kg

Afghanistan1 substance101 kg

opium101 kg

Malaysia3 substances98 kg

methamphetamine86 kg
mdma11 kg
ketamine630 g

Ireland2 substances26 kg

cocaine22 kg
cannabis4 kg

Italy1 substance17 kg

methamphetamine17 kg

Canada5 substances13 kg

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

Philippines1 substance3.7 kg

methamphetamine3.7 kg