El Salvador has intensified its fight against transnational drug trafficking after the National Navy intercepted a vessel carrying 1.36 tons of cocaine in the Pacific Ocean, marking another major operation in the country’s maritime security strategy.
According to President Nayib Bukele, the interception took place on July 17, approximately 947 nautical miles (1,764 kilometers) southwest of the El Cordoncillo inlet in the Jaltepeque Estuary. Authorities detained two Ecuadorian nationals who were allegedly transporting the illicit cargo aboard an outboard motorboat.
Officials estimated the seized cocaine to have a market value of approximately $34 million. The latest operation raises El Salvador’s total cocaine seizures in 2026 to 14.61 tons, with an estimated value exceeding $365.25 million.
President Bukele described the operation as another significant blow against transnational criminal organizations, noting that it follows what he called the country’s most decisive anti-drug trafficking operation carried out just one month earlier. He reaffirmed that Salvadoran authorities will continue targeting criminal networks operating in maritime routes that were previously exploited with little resistance.
The interception forms part of El Salvador’s broader maritime security and counternarcotics strategy, aimed at disrupting international drug trafficking routes and strengthening regional efforts against organized crime in the Eastern Pacific.