CaliToday (08/12/2025): It looked like a scene lifted directly from a Hollywood blockbuster, but for the crew of the USCGC Munro, it was a high-stakes reality.
In a dramatic video released by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) that has since gone viral, a sniper perched in an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter is seen executing a textbook "disabling fire" maneuver—shooting out the outboard engines of a cartel speedboat moving at breakneck speeds.
The surgical strike brought the vessel to a smoking halt and led to the seizure of over 20,000 pounds (9 metric tons) of cocaine. Officials are calling it the single largest interdiction of a "go-fast" vessel in Coast Guard history.
The Takedown: Precision at 100 Knots
The incident, which occurred on December 5 south of the Mexican coast, began when maritime patrol aircraft spotted a suspicious low-profile vessel tearing across the Eastern Pacific. The USCGC Munro launched its helicopter interdiction tactical squadron (HITRON).
The footage shows the sniper tracking the bouncing speedboat through the helicopter’s open door.
The Warning: The Coast Guard first attempted to stop the vessel via radio and warning shots. The smugglers ignored them, pushing their engines to the limit to escape.
The Shot: With the command given, the marksman fired precision rounds directly into the boat's outboard motors.
The Aftermath: Smoke immediately billowed from the engine block, leaving the vessel dead in the water.
The Haul: A "Mountain of White Powder"
Once the vessel was neutralized, boarding teams from the Munro stormed the deck, arresting four suspects.
What they found on board was staggering. Bales of cocaine were stacked from floor to ceiling, weighing in at 9,071 kilograms (20,000 lbs).
Street Value: Estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Lethality: The USCG estimates this shipment contained enough narcotics to create 7.5 million lethal doses, a potential catastrophe for communities across North America.
Operation "Pacific Viper": A Record-Breaking Year
This bust is the crown jewel of Operation Pacific Viper, an aggressive counter-narcotics surge launched in August 2025.
The operation has yielded unprecedented results. In Fiscal Year 2025 alone, the Coast Guard has intercepted nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine a figure that is triple the annual average of previous years.
"The cartels are evolving, building faster boats and semi-submersibles. But as this video shows, we are evolving too," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News. "There is no engine fast enough to outrun a radio, and certainly none fast enough to outrun a sniper round."
Social Media Sensation
The helmet-cam footage of the sniper's shot has set social media ablaze. Within hours of its release this morning, the video accumulated millions of views on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, with users praising the "insane accuracy" required to hit a moving engine from a moving helicopter over open water.
The four suspects are currently in U.S. custody and await prosecution.