Cocaine Submarine

by the Left Coast Rebel

I caught this strange headline this morning - Officials Seize Cocaine Submarine.

So although this is incredibly far and away from the usual topics here at LCR, it interested me nonetheless. Check this out, BBC reports -

Guatemalan and US authorities have seized a makeshift submarine loaded with cocaine with a US street value of $200m (£120m).

The submarine, which had 10 tonnes of cocaine on board, was
stopped by the coast guard some 280km (175 miles) off Guatemala's Pacific coast. Four Colombians and one Mexican man on board the vessel were arrested.

Guatemala is becoming an important transit point for illegal drugs moved north by Mexican trafficking cartels. These cartels are increasingly moving into neighbouring Guatemala in a bid to ensure safe supply lines following a crackdown launched by Mexico's President
Felipe Calderon.

The president has deployed more than 45,000 troops to fight drug gangs since he took office in December 2006.

At least two other submarine-like vessels have been found by anti-drug
patrols in the waters around Central America.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott, in Medellin, says drugs smugglers often use such makeshift vessels - constructed in steel and fibreglass - as they are difficult to detect using a conventional radar.

Our correspondent adds that the vessels, which can cost up to $1m each, are often sunk after use.

Here are some pictures of the submarine and it's cargo that I found over at UK's Daily Mail -

Above is a cocaine-sub captured in Colombia in 2008. No details on how the occupants could breathe in this thing or propulsion method....

This is a shot of the coke-cargo of the BBC mentioned sub captured off Guatemala.

The same sub being towed by a US Destroyer

Via Memeorandum