Colombian Navy Seizes Almost 3 Tons of Cocaine from Submarine

BOGOTA – The Colombian navy seized almost 3 tons of cocaine hidden aboard a small submarine with a four-man crew, which was detected in the Pacific Ocean heading for the border area between Guatemala and Mexico, officials said Tuesday.

Combined investigations by the navy, police and U.S. naval units spotted the drug-traffickers’ sub as it set sail from Sanquianga National Park in the southwestern Colombian province of Nariño, an official communique said.

With the aid of the United States Coast Guard, the 11-meter-long (36-foot-long) by 1-meter-wide (3¼-foot) wide submarine was intercepted in international waters and was found to be carrying 2.8 tons of cocaine.

The part of Nariño from where the small submarine sailed is a stronghold of the Daniel Aldana mobile column of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which according to the navy collects huge sums of money from drug-traffickers for permission to ship their narcotics through the region, from the inland jungles to the Pacific Ocean.

The four crew members of the sub detained in international waters were handed over to U.S. authorities, the report said