WILLEMSTAD – The Coast Guard for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean intercepted more than 11 tons of drugs during 2025, according to its newly released annual report. The seizures included 5,783 kilograms of cocaine and 5,450 kilograms of cannabis across the Caribbean region.
The figures are part of the Coast Guard’s operational results for 2025 and underline the continuing role of Curaçao and the wider Dutch Caribbean in regional anti-drug operations.
According to the report, the Coast Guard carried out 1,713 controls during the year, while also intercepting illegal weapons, undocumented migrants and conducting hundreds of rescue operations.
The Coast Guard stated that many of the drug interceptions were conducted in close cooperation with international partners, including the United States Coast Guard and the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S). Operations involved patrol aircraft, radar systems and maritime vessels working together across territorial and international waters.
However, the report also notes that total drug seizures declined compared to previous years. According to the Coast Guard, this was partly because the Dutch Caribbean station ship was increasingly tasked with monitoring regional security tensions around the ABC islands instead of conducting counter-drug operations in international waters.
The report further states that suspicious drug trafficking movements south of the ABC islands significantly declined during the second half of 2025, likely due to increased military activity and operations by the United States in the region.
The Coast Guard emphasized that the Caribbean part of the Kingdom remains vulnerable to transnational organized crime because of its strategic location between drug-producing countries in South America and major consumer markets in Europe and North America.