Operation Tiburon

Operation Tiburon, (Tiburon (es:Tiburón) is Spanish for "Shark,") was a coordinated counterdrug operation between three different US agencies – Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), US Coast Guard, US Customs Service – and Colombian authorities, resulting in the seizure of approximately 6.4 million pounds of marijuana coming from Colombia, about 20% of the total amount that enter the United States annually.[1] Of the total, 4.7 million were confiscated by the Colombian government while the remaining 1.7 million were done by US personnel.[2] The operation concluded on February 5, 1982, when US Attorney General William French Smith announced "the most successful international marijuana interdiction effort to date" at Coast Guard headquarters.[2] Along with the pot seized, 495 people were arrested and 95 vessels were seized.[3]

Conducted in a 14-month-long period involving three raids, the operation is considered to be the most successful counterdrug operation to date, with record seizures as of 1982.[4] The Attorney General commended the operation as a "classic example" of how successful collaboration between different agencies and governments is key to tackling large-scale drug trafficking operations.[3]