List of cannabis seizures
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of cannabis seizures notable for record-setting size or social precedent.
| 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;[10] 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[10] |
| Cowabungle raid? | Federal police | Tijuana | 2010 | 105 tons | Largest seizure in Mexico in years.[18] |
| Mexican Army | Baja California desert, Mexico | 2011 | 120 tons of marijuana, worth 1.8 billion pesos ($160 million) | Largest plantation ever seized in Mexico; over 300-acre (120 ha) open-air farm one mile from federal highway, possibly run by Sinaloa cartel[19][20] | |
| 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.[21][22] | |
| Operation Everglades | CBP, DEA | Chokoloskee | 1983–1984 | 500,000 lbs | Largest seizure at the time[23][2] |
| Local police | Goodrich, Texas | 2014 | 100,000 plants | Largest seizure in Texas history at the time.[24] | |
| Operation Weed Eaters and Operation Thunderstorm | National Drug Law Enforcement Agency | Akure, Ondo State | January–June 2014 | 34,030 kilograms (75,020 lb)[25] | Largest single seizure by agency in Ondo State to date, valued at 364 million naira.[25] |
| Ondo State and elsewhere in Nigeria | 45,875 kilograms (101,137 lb)[26] | ||||
| 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.[22] | |
| Federal/local | Lipscomb County, Texas | 2015 | 109,000 plants | New state record.[27][28] | |
| Hong Kong Police Force | Hong Kong | 2017 | 180 kg (400 lb) | Largest seizure in HK in a decade.[29] | |
| 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.[30] | |
| Operation Trojan Shield | U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Australian Federal Police New Zealand Police Europol | 2021 | 22 tons[31] | Enabled by ANOM standalone encryption devices used by criminals but secretly supplied by FBI.[32][33] | |
| 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.[34][35] | |
| 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.[36] | |
| 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][37] | Included operations by attack submarines HMCS Corner Brook in 2008 and 2011,[38] and HMCS Victoria in 2014.[39] |
| 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.[40][41] | |
| 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.[42] | |
| 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.[43] | |
| Sri Lanka Customs | Bandaranaike International Airport | 2026 | 242 pounds (110 kg) | Largest seizure of Kush in airport history. Carried in luggage belonging to 22 Buddhist monks who were arrested.[44] |
*Assumed dried leaf or flower material unless otherwise specified.
†May not be independently verified
