The Coast Guard Take Down a Narco Submarine Smuggling $232m of Cocaine
The U.S. Coast Guard has made a remarkable achievement in the fight against international drug trafficking. In June 2019, they intercepted a "narco sub" carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine worth about $232 million in the Pacific Ocean. This was the first time that such a vessel was captured in the Atlantic Ocean, and it revealed the growing use of homemade submarines by drug smugglers.
A narco sub is a 40-foot-long vessel made out of fiberglass that can travel just under the surface of the water, making it very hard to detect. It is usually built in the jungles of South America and launched from the coast of Colombia or Brazil. It can carry up to three tons of cocaine and travel up to 2,000 miles without refueling.
The Coast Guard released a dramatic video of the chase, showing how they leaped onto the moving sub and busted open the hatch. Inside, they found three men and the huge stash of drugs. The men were arrested and taken to the U.S. for prosecution.
The operation was part of a monthslong, $569 million cocaine bust that involved three Coast Guard cutters and 14 drug-smuggling vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America. A total of 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana were seized in that time, and 55 alleged smugglers were apprehended.
Vice President Mike Pence praised the Coast Guard for their courageous service and said that their actions were saving American lives. The Coast Guard has been using new state-of-the-art cutters to enhance their capabilities and replace their aging fleet.
However, the threat of narco subs is not over. In April 2021, another sub was discovered off the Spanish coast, carrying more than $150 million worth of cocaine. It was the first narco sub known to have brought cocaine from South America to Europe, and it showed how traffickers are adapting to the increased law enforcement pressure in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is estimated that hundreds of narco subs have been launched towards Europe in the last 20 years, but only two have been seized so far. Some experts believe that there is a mass graveyard of sunken subs in the middle of the ocean, where smugglers deliberately scuttle their vessels after unloading their cargo.
The Coast Guard and other agencies are working hard to stop this illicit trade that fuels violence, corruption and addiction around the world. They are using intelligence, surveillance, technology and cooperation to track down these elusive subs and seize their deadly cargo.
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FAQ's
What is a submarine for smuggling drugs?
narco-submarine
A narco-submarine (also called a drug sub or narco sub) is a type of custom ocean-going self-propelled semi-submersible or fully-submersible vessel built for smugglers.
What drugs were taken in the submarine in Colombia?
In March, officials seized a narco sub carrying two dead bodies and a huge haul of drugs in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia. About a week later, a semi-submersible vessel carrying nearly 1,000 packages of cocaine was intercepted in the same region.
Was a submarine with 3 tons of cocaine found?
Drug-smuggling submarine with 2 bodies, 3 tons of cocaine seized off coast of Colombia. The Colombian Navy intercepted a drug-smuggling submarine ship off the Pacific coast of Colombia with two bodies and approximately 2,643 kilograms of cocaine on board.
Was cocaine found in a submarine in Colombia?
The vessel was carrying a staggering three tonnes of cocaine, which will fetch around $103 million in the market, the navy said, according to reports. The Central America sea route is commonly used by peddlers for drug smuggling into the United States—the world's largest consumer of Colombian cocaine.
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