Colombian Navy intercepts first “narco sub” of year, seizes more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine

A semi-submersible vessel loaded with over 5,000 pounds of cocaine was intercepted off the Pacific coast of Colombia, the country’s navy said Wednesday. Officials said it marked the nation’s first seizure of a so-called “narco sub” this year.

In a social media post, Colombia’s navy said it stopped the semi-submersible about 100 nautical miles from Tumaco, which is close to the Ecuador border. Officials said the “narco sub” was manned by two Colombians and one Ecuadorian and an image released by the navy showed three men being detained behind dozens of piles of packages containing the alleged drugs.

Officials said a total of 111 bundles were found, containing 2,276 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of about $76 million.

The navy posted video of the operation, including footage that shows a spotlight shining on the semi-submersible. Another clip shows a naval ship returning to port and officers unloading large bricks of narcotics.

Semi-submersibles lie very low on the ocean’s surface but cannot go fully underwater. They are popular among international drug traffickers because they can often elude detection by authorities. 

Though most commonly seen off the coast of Colombia, “narco subs” have been spotted across the globe in recent months. 

Last month, a “narco sub” broke in two pieces as a fishing boat was towing it to a port in northwestern Spain. In November, the Mexican Navy said it seized about 8,000 pounds of cocaine aboard a “narco sub” about 150 miles off the resort of Acapulco.  In September, the U.S. Coast Guard said that it had offloaded more than $54 million worth of cocaine  — including over 1,200 pounds of drugs that were seized from a “narco sub.”

Two months earlier, Interpol said authorities in Guyana seized a semisubmersible vessel that was being used for drug trafficking through one of the nation’s jungles.

The Colombian navy said it intercepted 20 semi-submersibles in all of 2023, leading to the seizure of 30 tons of cocaine and more than 5 tons of marijuana. That year, a “narco sub” with two dead bodies and nearly three tons of cocaine aboard was seized off the coast of Colombia.

contributed to this report.