Suspects “drug submarine” capable of smuggling drugs broke in two as a fishing boat towed it into a port in northwest Spain this week, police said.
The fishing vessel “Maria Cristina” spotted the “semi-submerged” vessel on Wednesday at the entrance to the Camarinas-Muxia estuary in the Galicia region and proceeded to tow it to the port of Camarinas after notifying the police, the Civil Guard said in a statement.
During the operation, “the suspected drug submarine broke into two parts: the bow one, which remains afloat, and the stern one, which sank due to its greater weight,” the statement added.
Police divers searched for sunken parts of the vessel for analysis. It was not immediately clear if there were drugs in it.
Gustavo de la Paz/Europa Press via Getty Images
In 2023, the Civil Guard police in northwestern Spain restarted by “narcosub” they suspected that it was used to transport cocaine. The video showed divers inspecting the vessel and measuring underwater, and another video shows officers operating a tugboat with a crane as the submarine’s bow juts out.
In 2019, Spanish police seized a semi-submarine with more than 6,600 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Galicia, suspected to have come from South America.
Drug dealers, especially from Colombiathey were caught using submarines to transport cocaine to Mexico and from there to the United States. In 2023, a “narco sub” with two dead bodies and almost three tons of cocaine on board was seized on the shores of Colombia.
In November, the Mexican Navy said it seized ca 8,000 pounds of cocaine on a “drug submarine” off the Pacific coast that was spotted earlier this week about 153 miles from Acapulco resort.
Two months earlier, the US Coast Guard said it had landed more than $54 million worth of cocaine — including more than 1,200 pounds of the drug seized from a “drug submarine.”
Most vessels are only semi-submersible – the ship is partially submerged and cannot fully submerge like a submarine – but some can go completely underwater.
Galicia has long been the main entry point for drugs into Europe. A maze of coves, caves and bays dot its indented coastline, making it a haven for smugglers.
last week, the Spanish police announced they arrested seven people while unloading 1,100 kilograms of drugs from a fast ship in Vilanova de Arousa.
