2023-05-12 19:31:26
Colombia
Navy seizes largest narco submarine in its history
A submarine measuring 30 meters long and three meters wide, carrying three tons of cocaine, was intercepted in Colombia.
Published
It is the largest semi-submersible identified since this type of seizure began in 1993.
The Colombian navy announced on Friday that it had seized the largest narco submarine in Colombian history, measuring 30 meters long and three meters wide, with three tons of cocaine on board. The semi-submersible was stopped on Tuesday as it headed for Central America, one of the busiest routes for illegal trafficking to the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of Colombian cocaine.
The images released by the authorities showed the long boat on the waters, as well as its goods landed ashore, hundreds of packages of narcotics labeled “Toyota” (traffickers like to give a signature, often chosen from among the major global brands, to their deliveries) and, in the middle, three captured men.
Plus grand semi-submersible
It is the largest semi-submersible identified since the beginning of this type of seizure in 1993, in the country the largest producer of cocaine in the world. In three decades, the Navy has seized 228 ships of this type, which leave loaded with tons of drugs from the Pacific Ocean to the United States or even cross the Atlantic to Europe.
The three Colombian suspects arrested in this latest seizure claimed to have been “forced by an organization of drug traffickers to board and drive the semi-submersible with the alkaloid to Central America”. The three men, aged 63, 54 and 45, were taken to Tumaco (south) to be brought to justice. According to estimates by the navy, the seizure represents a loss of 103 million dollars for the traffickers.
Clandestine boats
Manufactured clandestinely, these boats, both rustic and light, move close to the surface of the water, cover longer distances than the speedboats of the authorities and are difficult to spot. Colombian legislation punishes the use, construction, marketing, possession and transport of semi-submersibles with prison terms of up to 14 years.
After half a century of war on drugs financed and supported by the United States, Colombia continues to reach record levels of cocaine production. In 2021, the cultivation of coca, from which the drug is extracted, covered more than 204,000 hectares, and the production of cocaine hydrochloride amounted to 1,400 tons, according to the UN.
(AFP)
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