| Operation
|
Agency
|
Location
|
Year
|
Amount and form*
|
Notes
|
|
U.S.–Colombia joint operation |
Guajira Peninsula, Colombia |
1978 |
570+ tons |
Largest drug seizure to date by a factor of 10, worth $200 million.[1][2]
|
| Night Train Seizure |
US Coast Guard |
Atlantic Ocean near Florida |
1978 |
54 tons (108,000 lb) |
|
|
US Coast Guard |
Pacific Ocean 150 miles from San Diego |
1984 |
26,000 pounds |
Yacht Arrakis; largest on West Coast to date.[3]
|
| Project Pacifico |
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
and Mexican authorities |
Chihuahua, Northern Mexico |
1984 |
10,000 tons (20,000,000 pounds) |
Series of raids in Mexico, some unharvested plants, some harvested and baled. Seizure included 45 trucks able to carry 30 tons of bales each.[2]
|
|
US Coast Guard Cutter Roger B Taney (WHEC-37) |
Atlantic Ocean |
1985 |
160 Tons |
Tug and Barge [4]
|
| Cornbread Mafia seizure |
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (investigator) |
10 Midwest states, based in Kentucky |
1989 |
182 tons (364,000 pounds) valued at $350 million |
Over 70 individuals indicted operating 29 farms,[5][6][7] called by federal prosecutors the "largest domestic marijuana producing organization in the nation."[8]
|
| Operation Green Sweep |
US Army/National Guard/Bureau of Land Management |
King Range National Conservation Area, Emerald Triangle, California |
1990 |
1400 plants |
First time active-duty troops engaged in counterdrug activities inside US borders.[9]
|
| Operation Conquistador |
DEA |
Caribbean (multiple) |
2000 |
362 tonnes |
DEA coordinated 26 country effort; largest in this table by weight.
|
| Operation Keymer |
Local police |
Cambridge UK |
2006 |
54 kg (119 lb) |
|
| Operation Imperial Emperor |
DEA |
California–Mexico |
2007 |
27,229 pounds |
Other drugs and $45 million cash seized.[3][11]
|
|
Federal/local |
Houston |
2007 |
19,000 pounds[3] |
Seized drugs were being transported in school buses.[12]
|
| Norwegian cannabis raids |
National Criminal Investigation Service |
Norway |
2007–2008 |
500 cannabis plants on a single farm, over 40 individual raids |
One of Norway's largest narcotics cases.[13]
|
|
Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan |
Kahdahar, Afghanistan |
2008 |
260 tons hashish
520,000 lb† |
Said to be largest drug seizure in history at the time, worth $400 million.[14][15]
|
|
US interagency? |
Queens |
2009 |
50,000 pounds |
BC bud, street value $150 million.[3]
|
| Operation Save our Sierra |
State/Federal |
Fresno, California |
2009 |
330,000 plants |
Estimated value $1 billion, second largest in this table.[3][16]
|
|
RCMP |
Montreal |
2010 |
8 tons (16,000 pounds) hashish |
Found in abandoned trailer.[17]
|
| Operation Deliverance |
DEA |
Mexico–US |
2010 |
69 tons |
Bilateral
|
| Cowabungle raid? |
Federal police |
Tijuana |
2010 |
105 tons |
Largest seizure in Mexico in years.[18]
|
| Operation Kruz Control |
Federal interagency/local |
Arizona |
2012–2013 |
27,000 pounds |
Year-long operation.
|
|
CBP |
Calexico border crossing |
2013 |
35,000 pounds |
Largest seizure at US-Mexico border.[19][20]
|
|
Local police |
Goodrich, Texas |
2014 |
100,000 plants |
Largest seizure in Texas history at the time.[21]
|
| Operation Weed Eaters and Operation Thunderstorm |
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency |
Akure, Ondo State |
January–June 2014 |
34,030 kilograms (75,020 lb)[22] |
Largest single seizure by agency in Ondo State to date, valued at 364 million naira.[22]
|
| Ondo State and elsewhere in Nigeria |
45,875 kilograms (101,137 lb)[23]
|
|
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) |
Otay Mesa port of entry, San Diego County, California |
2015 |
27,000 pounds |
Second-largest seizure at US–Mexico border.[20]
|
|
Federal/local |
Lipscomb County, Texas |
2015 |
109,000 plants |
New state record.[24][25]
|
|
Hong Kong Police Force |
Hong Kong |
2017 |
180 kg (400 lb) |
Largest seizure in HK in a decade.[26]
|
|
DuPage County Metropolitan Enforcement Group |
DuPage County, Illinois (Chicago area) |
2021 |
7,688 pounds of cannabis, 406 pounds of cannabis edibles, and 6,891 THC vaping cartridges |
Largest seizure in DuPage County "in memory", estimated to be worth $22 million.[27]
|
| Operation Trojan Shield |
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
Australian Federal Police
New Zealand Police
Europol |
|
2021 |
22 tons[28] |
Enabled by ANOM standalone encryption devices used by criminals but secretly supplied by FBI.[29][30]
|
| Antelope Valley eradication operation |
Los Angeles County Sheriff
other southern California sheriffs
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
California National Guard
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration |
|
2021 |
375,000 cannabis plants and 33,480 pounds of harvested marijuana |
Largest seizure ever in Los Angeles County, worth over one billion dollars.[31][32]
|
|
Oregon State Police |
White City, Oregon |
2021 |
500,000 pounds of harvested marijuana |
More than 100 people were arrested along with the seizure marijuana worth approximately $500 million.[33]
|
| Operation Caribbe |
Canadian Armed Forces |
Caribbean |
2006–2021 or later |
Over 6.7 tonnes of seized cannabis, 105 tonnes of cocaine as of 2021[update][34] |
Included operations by attack submarines HMCS Corner Brook in 2008 and 2011,[35] and HMCS Victoria in 2014.[36]
|
|
Federal-state-tribal interagency |
Navajo Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico |
2020 |
260,000 plants |
Over 1,000 greenhouses raided; probably a mix of hemp and THC-bearing cannabis, employed many non-US persons.[37][38]
|
|
Guardia Civil and Policía Foral |
Spain |
2022 |
415,000 cannabis plants |
Worth an estimated $108 million, called largest cannabis farm in Europe with 166 acres (67 ha) under cultivation.[39]
|
|
Yamhill County Sheriff deputies and volunteers, aided by Oregon State Police, Port of Portland PDX Task Force, Newberg-Dundee Police Department, Polk County Sheriff's Office, and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue |
Yamhill County, Oregon outside Newberg (Portland area) |
2022 |
Over 38 tons of harvested marijuana |
Largest seizure in county history; farm unlicensed by Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission processing for illegal out-of-state sale; firearms and $80,000 in foil-wrapped cash also seized; evidence of wire transfers to Mexican state of Michoacán. Cannabis valued at $76.5 million in Oregon or $269 million on US East Coast.[40]
|
