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  4. Air and Marine Operations Statistics FY 2020

Air and Marine Operations Statistics FY 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) safeguards our Nation by anticipating and confronting security threats through our aviation and maritime law enforcement expertise, innovative capabilities, and partnerships at the border and beyond.

With approximately 1,800 federal agents and mission support personnel, 240 aircraft, and 300 marine vessels operating throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands, AMO conducts its mission in the air and maritime environments at and beyond the border, and within the nation's interior.

AMO interdicts unlawful people and cargo approaching U.S. borders, investigates criminal networks and provides domain awareness in the air and maritime environments, and responds to contingencies and national taskings.

In Fiscal Year 2019, AMO enforcement actions resulted in the seizure or disruption of 284,825 pounds of cocaine, 101,874 pounds of marijuana, 51,058 pounds of methamphetamine, 935 weapons and $34.1 million, 1,575 arrests, 52,036 apprehensions of illegal aliens.

Category FY19 FY20
Air and Marine Operations 377 184


CBP agents frequently conduct life-saving efforts, while carrying out their respective missions. Numbers below reflect Fiscal Year Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and Fiscal Year (FY) 2020.

Fiscal Year 2020 runs October 01, 2019 - September 30, 2020.

Air and Marine Operations Nationwide Drug Seizures

Numbers listed below are reflective of AMO’s enforcement actions with non-CBP agencies for FY 2017 - FY 2020.

Fiscal Year 2020 runs October 01, 2019 - September 30, 2020.

Category FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY20
Cocaine 196,832 205,792 227,475 113,256
Heroin 342 544 507 299
Marijuana 113,873 178,478 59,396 165,137
Methamphetamine 2,783 175,409 48,872 6,733
Fentanyl 100 243 387 552


*weights are in pounds (lb)

Monthly Air and Marine Operations Nationwide Drug Seizures

Numbers listed below are reflective of AMO’s enforcement actions with non-CBP agencies for FY2020.

Fiscal Year 2020 runs October 01, 2019 - September 30, 2020.

Month Marijuana Cocaine Heroin Methamphetamine Fentanyl
October 6,535 16,678 58 243 159
November 642 19,538 30 245 72
December 244 3,826 32 320 7
January 6,325 10,651 5 96 17
February 4,823 11,770 19 300 36
March 2,734 5,256 47 966 28
April 32 8,653 2 603 37
May 132,240 244 10 696 49
June 2,774 802 73 876 39
July 5,748 11,473 3 295 26
August 2,508 13,939 14 1,747 66
September 532 10,424 7 346 15


*weights are in pounds (lb)

CBP/AMO - Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Flight Operations

CBP’s oversight framework and procedures ensure that UAS operations are in compliance with privacy and civil liberty laws and standards. In compliance with Congressional reporting requirements, CBP makes publicly available the number of missions and flight hours flown by the UAS, split into three categories: maritime border security; state, local, and tribal coordination; land border security. All missions and flight hours (including training and maintenance flights) are allocated to one of these three categories. Missions that were categorized in CBP AMO’s system of record as maritime reconnaissance/surveillance/target acquisition are classified as ‘Maritime Border Security’. Missions flown in coordination with a state, local, or tribal primary partner are classified as ‘State, Local, & Tribal Coordination’. All other hours are classified as ‘Land Border Security’.

Numbers listed below are reflective of AMO's operations for FY 2017 - FY 2019.

Mission Category FY17
Flight Hours
FY17
Mission Count
FY18
Flight Hours
FY18
Mission Count
FY19
Flight Hours
FY19
Mission Count
Land Border Security 961 7,120 1,555 7,642 2,417 7,849
Maritime Border Security 20 116 59 287 75 367
State, Local & Tribal Coordination 9 40 2 14 3 11
Total 990 7,276 1,616 7,942 2,495 8,227
Last Modified: Nov 20, 2023