A Colombian Navy found a submarine loaded with cocaine. The ship was en route to Central America when it was intercepted by the military near San Ignacio Bay on Monday 20th.
The seized submarine is 15 meters long and is said to have left the Tumaco coast. According to the Navy, the ship contained nearly a thousand packs of the drug, a cargo worth US$33 million (about R$170 million). The drug was wrapped in rubber and cellophane. Three crew members were arrested, all Ecuadorians. The Colombian Navy reported that the trio were en route with 42 packages containing food and navigation and communications equipment.
Investigators in Colombia have evidence that the ship belongs to a criminal group transporting cocaine to the border area between Guatemala and Mexico.
A video shared by the Colombian Navy shows the military finding the cocaine. The officers opened the hatch at the top of the semisubmersible and the packs of medicine were at the bottom of the compartment.
#PlanAyacucho We’re avoiding the flow of more than $33 million to drug trafficking organizations
Banned on a semisumergible as it apparently sailed towards Central America with 985 packets of alkaloids.👉 https://t.co/FyKUrs09SO pic.twitter.com/Cpw8zkA2OT
— Armada de Colombia (@ArmadaColombia) March 20, 2023
As the Colombian public prosecutor announced, the three persons responsible for maritime transport were brought before a guarantee control judge. The trio were charged with the crime of aggravated trafficking, manufacture or possession of drugs; and building, selling or owning semisubmersibles.
This was the second illegal semisubmersible to be arrested by local authorities in a week. Last week, the Navy found a minisubmarine with a cargo of 2.6 tons of cocaine hydrochloride in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The cargo was valued at BRL 460 million.
According to investigators, the drug is said to have been brought to the border area between Guatemala and Mexico Photo: Disclosure