Edition O'026

Drug News Roundup

Saturday, September 19, 2026 · 15 stories

Covering reporting published since the Sept 18 edition, roughly Sept 17-19, with a couple of incident dates running back to Sept 14-15 where reporting lagged. No new SOUTHCOM/JTF-WHEM lethal strike or refueling-vessel interdiction was found in this window, so the standing cumulative tally stays at 69 strikes and at least 230 deaths, and the second Los Choneros refueling-vessel interdiction already logged Sept 18 remains the most recent military action. A widely-surfacing 'Marinha e PF fazem maior apreensao de cocaina no mar brasileiro' story about a 3.6-tonne Pernambuco cocaine bust and the vessel 'Palmares 1' looked like fresh Sept 19 news in search results but checked out, on the publishing outlet's own byline, as a September 2023 case being re-surfaced — it was dropped. Two other apparent Sept 17-18 stories collapsed the same way on verification: an Argentina Gendarmeria Brazo Largo cocaine seizure recirculating with a Sept 18 dateline was actually from Sept 3, and a Colombian de la Espriella daily security tally recirculating with a Sept 18 dateline was actually from Sept 2; both were dropped as stale. A Spanish Costa del Sol cocaine case with the same headline numbers as the Sept 17 Albanian-network story that is included below appears to be the same investigation surfacing under an inconsistent April dateline on one aggregator; it was published independently on Sept 17 by three Colombian outlets, so it is included, sourced to the more consistent reporting. A Katie Williams/Kenneth Smith DC fentanyl case that a search summary initially dated to Sept 18 turned out, on the original blog's own reporting, to be a Aug 18 arrest and was dropped as stale.

1National / Federal (US)

DEA-led investigation in Chicago suburbs nets 339 pounds of cocaine and $700,000 in cash

339.5 lbs cocaine (154 kg)Chicago suburbs, Illinois2 arrested

DEA's Chicago Field Division, working with CBP and several suburban police departments, searched a Franklin Park warehouse and a River Grove stash house on Sept 14-15, seizing about 339.5 pounds of cocaine — worth an estimated $15.2 million on the street — along with roughly $700,000 in cash, heat-sealing equipment and money counters. Ahmad Sanducka, 33, of Oak Lawn, and Burhan Ozerdinc, 33, of Mount Prospect, were charged with cocaine distribution and ordered held without bond by a Cook County judge.

SourceDEA / CWB Chicago

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 339.5 lbs cocaine (154 kg) — 15 × 10 kg ≈ 154 kg cocaine

Pensacola man indicted on meth and fentanyl trafficking charges, facing a possible life sentence

50+ g meth, 40+ g fentanylPensacola, Florida1 charged

A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Florida indicted 45-year-old Jeffrey Benjamin Banks this week on two counts of possession with intent to distribute — one involving more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, the other more than 50 grams of methamphetamine mixed with over 40 grams of fentanyl. The case, built by DEA, Pensacola police, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office and the Gulf Coast HIDTA task force, carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years and up to life in prison on the most serious count; Banks, who has two prior drug convictions, goes to trial Oct 19.

SourceU.S. Attorney's Office, N.D. Florida

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 50+ g meth, 40+ g fentanyl — 50 g meth · 40 g fentanyl

Buffalo man charged after controlled fentanyl buys total 62 grams

62 g fentanyl (0.062 kg)Buffalo, New York1 arrested

Federal prosecutors in the Western District of New York charged 42-year-old James McClain, known as "Jungle," after undercover investigators bought about 12 grams of fentanyl from him in July and roughly 50 grams in a second controlled purchase in August, both of which tested positive for fentanyl. McClain, arrested this week and ordered detained, faces up to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine on a charge of possessing 40 grams or more of fentanyl with intent to distribute.

SourceU.S. Attorney's Office, W.D.N.Y.

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 62 g fentanyl (0.062 kg) — 62 g fentanyl

2Local US Arrests

Iron Station, North Carolina traffic stop and home search uncover 18 pounds of cocaine worth $580,000

18 lbs cocaine (8.2 kg)Iron Station, North Carolina1 arrested

Lincoln County Sheriff's Office narcotics officers, working with Gastonia police, stopped a vehicle driven by 56-year-old Robbie McCall during a Sept 15 surveillance operation in eastern Lincoln County; a K-9 alert led to a backpack holding about 11 pounds of cocaine in the trunk. A follow-up search of McCall's Iron Station home turned up another 7 pounds of cocaine, 4 pounds of marijuana and two firearms. McCall, a convicted felon, was charged with multiple cocaine-trafficking counts and held without bond.

SourceWBTV

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 18 lbs cocaine (8.2 kg) — 8 × 1 kg ≈ 8.2 kg cocaine

Nine-month Macon, Georgia gang and drug probe ends with seven arrests and 11 guns seized

16 oz meth (0.45 kg)Macon, Georgia7 arrested

Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Middle Georgia Task Force closed out a nine-month joint drug-and-gang investigation on Sept 18 with raids at two Macon-area locations, recovering about 4 ounces of suspected fentanyl, 16 ounces of methamphetamine, 18 ounces of marijuana, prescription pills, more than $7,000 in cash and 11 firearms. Seven people were arrested, including Joseph Robinson, 21; Martaviyus Collins, 32; Terrell Moore, 29; Egypt Lumpkin, 26; Chris'Shayla Miller, 29; Quinton Johnson, 38; and Jessica King, 34.

SourceWGXA

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 16 oz meth (0.45 kg) — 454 g meth

3South America

Ecuador's new nightly curfew nets 157 arrests and dismantles a 'Lobos Box' cell in its first two nights

39 kg drugsGuayas, Manabí, Los Ríos & El Oro, Ecuador157 arrested

A curfew imposed Sept 17 from midnight to 5 a.m. across Guayas, Manabí, Los Ríos and El Oro provinces — running through Sept 30 — produced 157 arrests and the seizure of 39 kilograms of drugs, 11 firearms, 13 vehicles and 26 motorcycles in its first two nights, Interior Minister John Reimberg said. In El Oro, "Operation Shadow" carried out 18 simultaneous raids in Machala and Pasaje that captured 14 alleged members of the "Lobos Box" criminal group, accused of murder-for-hire, extortion, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

SourceEl Diario / Primicias

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 39 kg drugs — 39 kg drugs

Colombia's Interpol bureau captures 8 international fugitives wanted in seven countries

Cali, Medellín, Bogotá & Cartagena, Colombia8 arrested

Colombia's national police, through its Interpol bureau, carried out Operation Alba II on Sept 17, simultaneously detaining eight fugitives in Cali, Yotoco, Medellín, Bogotá and Cartagena who were wanted on Interpol red notices from Costa Rica, Spain, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Poland and Belgium. The suspects face allegations including international drug trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking and fraud, and will be held while the requesting countries pursue extradition.

SourceInfobae Colombia

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

Chilean prosecutors seize 1.1 tonnes of Bolivian marijuana smuggled through Colchane border crossings

1.12 t cannabisColchane / Santiago, Chile3 arrested

Prosecutors in Chile's Tarapacá and Tamarugal regions announced Sept 17-18 that Carabineros' OS-7 unit traced roughly 1,124 kilograms of marijuana smuggled from Bolivia through unregulated crossings near Colchane to a storage site in Puente Alto, Santiago. Three Colombian nationals were arrested and formally charged with drug trafficking, and investigators also seized about $2.7 million in cash tied to the operation.

SourceRadio Paulina

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 1.12 t cannabis — 4 × 250 kg ≈ 1.1 t cannabis

Brazilian police raid Guarulhos airport cocaine-to-Europe ring flagged by a 150-kilo Dutch seizure

150 kg cocaine (seized earlier, in Netherlands)Guarulhos, Brazil2 arrest warrants

Brazil's Federal Police launched Operation "Snelle Verzending" on Sept 14, executing two arrest warrants and two search warrants in Guarulhos after Dutch authorities, acting through their Brazil embassy, alerted police to roughly 150 kilograms of cocaine found hidden in air cargo shipped from São Paulo's international airport toward Europe. Investigators say the network may have included airport employees who helped move the drugs through the cargo terminal; this round of arrests followed the earlier Dutch seizure rather than turning up a new one.

SourcePolícia Federal

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 150 kg cocaine (seized earlier, in Netherlands) — 15 × 10 kg cocaine

Bolivian anti-drug police destroy four mobile cocaine-paste labs in the Chapare

4 labs, 980 L liquid cocaine destroyedChapare, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Bolivia's UMOPAR anti-narcotics police, under the "200 Años de Servicio a la Patria – Águila" plan, raided the Moja Pampa area of Villa Tunari municipality in the Chapare on Sept 15, destroying four mobile cocaine-base laboratories along with 980 liters of liquid cocaine and stores of sulfuric acid, sodium bicarbonate and cement used in processing. No arrests were reported; police said the raid was meant to disrupt rural production infrastructure feeding regional trafficking networks.

SourceLa Patria (Bolivia)

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

4Rest of World

Tijuana customs dog sniffs out 1.36 tonnes of methamphetamine and 10 kilos of fentanyl bound for the US

1.36 t meth, 10 kg fentanylTijuana, Mexico

A detection dog named RINI alerted Mexican customs agents at the export lot of the Tijuana border crossing on Sept 18 to boxes labeled for legitimate export that instead held roughly 1,357 kilograms of methamphetamine and 10 kilograms of fentanyl, according to Mexico's national customs agency and National Guard. The shipment, destined for the United States, was turned over to federal prosecutors; no arrests were announced.

SourceInfobae Mexico

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 1.36 t meth, 10 kg fentanyl — 14 × 100 kg ≈ 1.4 t meth · 20 × 500 g fentanyl

Spanish police dismantle Albanian network that moved 2.7 tonnes of Colombian cocaine into Europe

2.7 t cocaineCampo de Gibraltar / Barcelona, Spain15 arrested

Spain's National Police announced Sept 17 the takedown of an Albanian-led network that ran cocaine from Colombia through the Campo de Gibraltar to storage sites in Barcelona and Málaga for distribution across Europe, arresting 15 people — 12 of whom were jailed — and seizing more than 2,700 kilograms of cocaine along with 800 grams of the ketamine-based drug "tusi," 29 luxury vehicles and cryptocurrency assets. The investigation opened in 2025 and intensified after the group resumed large-scale activity in April.

SourceEl Heraldo (Colombia)

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 2.7 t cocaine — 27 × 100 kg cocaine

Seoul police break up meth-and-ketamine ring that hid drugs in sunflower-seed bags

1.25 kg meth, 0.5 kg ketamineSeoul, South Korea30 arrested

Seoul police arrested 30 people — 7 smugglers, 13 distributors and 10 buyers, with 17 held in custody — on Sept 17 in a ring accused of smuggling methamphetamine and ketamine into South Korea from Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand concealed in sunflower-seed packets, snack boxes and cosmetics containers. Investigators recovered about 1.25 kilograms of methamphetamine and 500 grams of ketamine and issued Interpol red notices for three overseas ringleaders while continuing to pursue a fourth.

SourceSeoul Economic Daily

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 1.25 kg meth, 0.5 kg ketamine — 1.2 kg meth

Dominican prosecutors raid four cities in Operation LM2, arrest alleged cocaine-network leader 'El Viajero'

168 packages cocaineSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic's Public Prosecutor's Office and National Drug Control Directorate deployed 13 prosecutors and more than 150 agents on Sept 16 for simultaneous raids in Santo Domingo, Hato Mayor, Santiago and Montecristi, seizing 168 packages of suspected cocaine along with high-end vehicles, cash and weapons. Among those detained was José Miguel Ceballos Rosario, known as "El Viajero," identified as one of the network's leaders; other suspects remained at large.

SourceDominican Today

Pixel-art scene of the seized items: 168 packages cocaine — all 168 packages

5Ongoing Stories with New Developments

Trump grants Colombia a waiver shielding it from the fallout of this week's drug-decertification finding

Colombia

Days after Washington kept Colombia on its 'failed demonstrably' drug-decertification list while removing Venezuela — reported in the Sept 17 edition — the Trump administration disclosed a national-interest waiver certifying that continued assistance to Colombia remains 'vital' to US interests, averting the usual suspension of aid and security cooperation, while the State Department redirected $52 million in military financing to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama. Colombian officials, including Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara, called the decertification finding part of an evolving process and pointed to territorial gains, while former President Andrés Pastrana urged a new bilateral 'Plan Colombia' agreement.

SourceRio Times

2026 Running Tally

Total weight intercepted across every story covered so far this year, through Sep 19, 2026. Counts seizures only — sentencings and indictments are not double-counted — and resets to zero each 1 January. Earlier years are kept below.

122 t 26 editions · 54 places · 14 substances

United States

Puerto Rico1 substance3.3 t

cocaine3.3 t

Texas5 substances1.6 t

methamphetamine1.4 t
cocaine251 kg
heroin16 kg
cannabis1.8 kg
mdma640 g

California5 substances1.3 t

methamphetamine1.2 t
fentanyl43 kg
cocaine9.5 kg
heroin1 kg
mdma68 g

Illinois2 substances686 kg

khat532 kg
cocaine154 kg

New York3 substances284 kg

cocaine277 kg
fentanyl7.6 kg
fentanyl/heroin250 g

Indiana1 substance126 kg

cocaine126 kg

Pennsylvania1 substance113 kg

cannabis113 kg

Florida4 substances39 kg

cannabis20 kg
cocaine9.7 kg
fentanyl5 kg
methamphetamine4.2 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

Georgia4 substances10 kg

carfentanil9.1 kg
cannabis510 g
methamphetamine450 g
fentanyl110 g

North Carolina2 substances10 kg

cocaine8.2 kg
cannabis1.8 kg

South Carolina2 substances7.9 kg

fentanyl4.1 kg
methamphetamine3.8 kg

Wisconsin3 substances6.7 kg

cannabis4.5 kg
cocaine1.8 kg
methamphetamine370 g

Missouri2 substances6 kg

cocaine3.5 kg
fentanyl2.5 kg

Virginia3 substances5.6 kg

methamphetamine5.3 kg
cocaine190 g
fentanyl170 g

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

Ohio3 substances2 kg

cocaine2 kg
fentanyl10 g
heroin3 g

International

Mexico4 substances21.0 t

methamphetamine19.2 t
cannabis1.8 t
fentanyl19 kg
heroin7.7 kg

Brazil4 substances18.0 t

cannabis15.1 t
cocaine2.8 t
coca base84 kg
hashish40 kg

Spain2 substances17.3 t

hashish11.3 t
cocaine6.1 t

Colombia4 substances16.0 t

cocaine9.8 t
cannabis5.5 t
coca base684 kg
heroin15 kg

Ecuador2 substances10.7 t

cocaine9.8 t
cannabis900 kg

Nigeria3 substances7.0 t

cannabis7.0 t
methamphetamine2 kg
cocaine350 g

Portugal1 substance5.3 t

hashish5.3 t

Chile2 substances5.1 t

cannabis5.1 t
cocaine7.2 kg

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

Argentina3 substances1.3 t

cannabis946 kg
cocaine321 kg
mdma52 kg

Venezuela1 substance905 kg

cannabis905 kg

Peru2 substances698 kg

cocaine448 kg
coca base250 kg

Pakistan4 substances508 kg

hashish301 kg
heroin202 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 substance341 kg

cocaine341 kg

Costa Rica1 substance312 kg

cocaine312 kg

Thailand1 substance166 kg

methamphetamine166 kg

India5 substances154 kg

methamphetamine72 kg
cannabis45 kg
amphetamine17 kg
mdma14 kg
heroin5.7 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 substances15 kg

mdma6.9 kg
fentanyl3.1 kg
cocaine2.5 kg
methamphetamine2.2 kg
cannabis479 g

Philippines1 substance3.9 kg

methamphetamine3.9 kg

South Korea2 substances1.8 kg

methamphetamine1.2 kg
ketamine500 g