U.S. Coast Guard Finds Homemade Sub Carrying 6.6 Tons Of Coke
Wednesday September 17, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff

When you think about drug dealers smuggling their wares into North America, images of an underground tunnel or a false car trunk stuffed with illegal goods come to mind.

But that's not the only thing those who would stop the flow are facing. Consider for a moment what American authorities found this weekend - a homemade submarine stuffed with an unbelievable 6.6 tons of cocaine.

The self-propelled semi-suvmersible was stealthily heading from Costa Rica towards the U.S. when it was intercepted by the U.S. Navy. The craft was about 60-feet long and had a crew of four on board, who were all taken into custody.

The sheer size of the haul and the way it was being transported has amazed officials and has given a whole new meaning to the term 'the high seas.'

"The boat was partially submerged but you can't call it amateurish. The drug traffickers are not amateurs," agrees Jose Pastor of Costa Rica's public security ministry.

The sub carried some sophisticated navigation equipment and was made out of steel and fiberglass. The Navy spotted it on Saturday and sent a secret message to the U.S. Coast Guard to move in. But it was an operation fraught with peril.

When agents got onboard the makeshift craft, those inside began deliberately and violently rocking the boat, trying to toss them off the deck and into the ocean. It didn't work and the agents hung on for dear life, trying to prevent the suspects from deliberately scuttling the sub.

The craft was equipped was valves that allow smugglers to sink it if the law tries to capture the ship, increasing the danger for those on the outside. "This was the most dangerous operation of my career," admits Lt. Todd Bagetis, who headed the raiding party.

It's not the first time these makeshift vessels have been used to ferry drugs to North America. But authorities admit this operation seemed especially well planned.

The sub was capable of going from South America to the U.S. at a top speed of 13 knots, without stopping for supplies or food. It's not clear where it would have surfaced or how the drugs might have been offloaded.

In all, searchers found an astonishing 37 bales of cocaine (top left). And it's a big loss for the kingpins behind the scheme. The estimated street value of the coke is a whopping $187 million.

source

edit: some photos here

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