Operation Conquistador seizes 362.5 tonnes of cannabis in 26-country sweep
A 17-day operation across the Caribbean and Latin America ended on 26 March 2000 with 362.5 metric tons of marijuana seized and 2,331 arrests, the DEA announced. Run from San Juan, it joined counter-drug agencies from 26 countries against trafficking organizations.
🇵🇷 San Juan, Puerto Rico (command centre of a 26-country sweep) · Puerto Rico
On 29 March 2000 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of
Operation Conquistador, a 17-day sweep that netted 2,331 arrests and 362.5 metric tons of
marijuana across the Caribbean and Latin America.[1]Michael Vigil of the DEA said the
cooperation among the participating countries mattered as much as the drugs seized and the
networks disrupted.[1]
Command and scope
The operation was launched simultaneously in 26 countries on 10 March 2000 and concluded
on 26 March, commanded from the DEA Caribbean Field Division in San Juan with forward
posts in Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.[2]Besides Panama, Colombia,
Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Suriname, actions ran in 20 Caribbean states and
territories, coordinated through the UNICORN information-sharing network with U.S. Coast
Guard air and sea assets.[2]The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traced seized
weapons.[2]
A cannabis-focused result
Cannabis made up the bulk of the drugs taken by weight: 362.5 metric tons of marijuana,
alongside cocaine and heroin seizures reported in the same totals.[1]Agents also
destroyed coca leaf and processing chemicals during the sweep.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
CNN reported 25 participating nations while the Senate hearing record lists 26 countries; this report uses the hearing's figure and country list.
The 2,331 arrests cover the whole multi-drug sweep, so a cannabis-only arrest count is not known.
No breakdown of the seized cannabis by country was published in the opened sources.
Seizure and arrest totals rest on the DEA announcement as reported by CNN; the hearing record confirms the operation's dates and scope but not its totals.
Puerto Rico police arrested two men, aged 51 and 57, during a surveillance operation in the Antonio Roig housing estate in Humacao on Tuesday 10 November 2026. Officers seized 17 bags of marijuana, 30 bags of cocaine and 97 bags of crack, along with $67 in cash, and consulted a prosecutor about the case.
Puerto Rico police arrested at least 60 people on 4 August 2026 in Operación Espacio Seguro, a five-month investigation into drug sales near schools and parks across 25 municipalities. Officers seized 101 marijuana pieces and one pound of marijuana alongside cocaine, crack, fentanyl and heroin, while prosecutors filed 248 charges.
Puerto Rico police stopped a pickup truck on the PR-26 in Carolina on 1 March 2026 and found 31 pounds of marijuana, a pistol, 22 rounds and three suspected counterfeit $100 bills. Three men were arrested and the case was referred to a prosecutor.
The Coast Guard cutter Northland stopped the 68-foot vessel An-Nur about 200 nautical miles southwest of Cabo Rojo on 8 July 2014, seizing 3,591 pounds of marijuana and detaining its five Guyanese crew. The men were handed to federal authorities in Ponce and charged with conspiracy aboard a United States-jurisdiction vessel, facing 10 years to life.
