The authorities have seized a 65-foot ‘narco-submarine’ full of cocaine off the shore of Spain in the first-ever bust of its kind.
The Spanish police were baffled after intercepting the submersible vessel that carried over 6,600 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Galicia.
After raiding the vessel, the special units came across 152 packages of cocaine with the estimated value of $110 million.
They have also arrested two Ecuadorian crew members who intentionally sunk the submarine before attempting to make a getaway by swimming to the shore. The third crew member, however, managed to escape, whereas the police are still on the hunt for him.
The operation was made possible thanks to the cooperation of multiple countries including Spain, the UK, Portugal, the US, and Brazil. It was initiated by Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre specialists who informed the Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime Intelligence Centre in Spain about a shady vessel approaching the country.
While Spanish Guardia Civil announced that “narco-submarines” are commonly used in the Americas, this is the first time the vessel of its kind was seized in European waters.
“Conditions at sea meant that the semi-submersible wasn’t able to deliver the drugs to a second vessel,” their statement read.
“Its crew members then headed towards the coast, where they scuttled and abandoned the vessel. The maneuver was detected by a Guardia Civil patrol using night-vision goggles, who then noted the boat’s arrival point and the subsequent fleeing of its crew.
“Although the use of these submarines is very common in the Americas, this is the first time that such a transportation system has been used [here]. The investigation into both the origin of the drugs and the gang that was set to handle them in Spain is ongoing.”
While the unusual drug smuggling approach may be new to EU waters, a Spanish agent has confirmed that they have been on the lookout for similar vessels for years.
“We had been hearing about this type of transport for years, the Americans had told us about it and some drug dealers who were detained in operations before 2010, who later turned away, but we had never seen them,” the agent revealed in an interview with ABC.
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