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Combating narco-subs and trafficking
The Colombian navy connected Wednesday announced its archetypal seizure of an unmanned "narco sub" equipped with a Starlink antenna disconnected its Caribbean coast.
The semisubmersible vas was not carrying drugs, but the Colombian navy and Western information sources based successful the portion told AFP they believed it was a proceedings tally by a cocaine trafficking cartel.
"It was being tested and was empty," a naval spokeswoman confirmed to AFP.
Manned semi-submersibles built successful clandestine jungle shipyards person been utilized for decades to ferry cocaine northbound from Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer, to Central America oregon Mexico.
But successful caller years, they person been sailing overmuch further afield, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The latest find, announced by Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo astatine a property conference, is the archetypal reported find successful South American waters of a drone narco sub.
The navy said it was owned by the Gulf Clan, Colombia's largest cause trafficking radical and had the capableness to transport 1.5 tons of cocaine.
A low-profile unmanned semi-submersible vas sits betwixt 2 Colombian Navy boats disconnected the seashore of Tayrona Park adjacent Santa Marta, Colombia, connected July 2, 2025.
Colombian Navy Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Gulf Clan is 1 of respective cartels recently designated as overseas violent groups by the United States.The group's "primary root of income is from cocaine trafficking, which it uses to money its paramilitary activities," according to the U.S. State Department.
A video released by the navy showed a tiny grey vas with a outer antenna connected the bow.
This is not the archetypal clip a Starlink antenna has been utilized astatine oversea by suspected cause traffickers.
In November, Indian constabulary seized a elephantine consignment of meth worthy $4.25 cardinal successful a vas steered remotely by Starlink adjacent the distant Andaman and Nicobar islands.
It was the archetypal known find of a narco sub operated by Starlink.
Floating "coffins"
Cocaine production, seizures and usage each deed grounds highs successful 2023, the U.N. cause bureau said past month.
In Colombia, accumulation has reached grounds levels, fuelled by surging planetary demand.
Rozo said the usage of autonomous subs reflected the traffickers "migration toward much blase unmanned systems" which are hard to observe astatine sea, "difficult to way by radar and adjacent let transgression networks to run with partial autonomy."
Juana Cabezas, a researcher astatine Colombia's Institute for Development and Peace Studies, told AFP that almighty Mexican cause cartels, who run successful Colombia, "hired exertion experts and engineers to make an unmanned submarine" arsenic acold backmost arsenic 2017.
She pointed retired that drone vessels made it harder for the authorities to pinpoint the cause lords down the shipments.
"Removing the unit eliminates the hazard of captured operators cooperating with authorities," agreed Henry Shuldiner, an researcher for the U.S.-based InSight Crime deliberation tank, who co-authored a study connected the emergence of narco subs.
Shuldiner besides highlighted the situation of assembling crews to sail makeshift subs described arsenic floating "coffins." The travel tin beryllium deadly: In 2023, a "narco sub" with 2 dormant bodies and astir 3 tons of cocaine aboard was seized disconnected the seashore of Colombia.
A submarine with 2 dormant bodies and astir 3 tons of cocaine aboard was seized successful the Pacific Ocean disconnected the seashore of Colombia, officials said.
Colombia Navy
A adjacent grounds fig of the low-profile vessels were intercepted successful the Atlantic and Pacific successful 2024, according to the report.
In November past year, 5 tons of Colombian cocaine were found connected a semi-submersible en way to faraway Australia.
Colombian instrumentality punishes the use, construction, marketing, possession, and proscription of semi-submersibles with penalties of up to 14 years successful prison.
Though commonly spotted disconnected the seashore of Colombia, narco subs person been intercepted crossed the globe successful caller months.
Just past week, the Mexican navy seized 3.5 tons of cocaine hidden successful a semisubmersible vas disconnected the Pacific coast, portion releasing video of the "narco sub" being intercepted.
In March, Portuguese constabulary said forces had confiscated nearly 6.5 tons of cocaine from a semi-submersible vas disconnected the distant Azores archipelago that was bound for the Iberian peninsula. In January, a suspected narco sub broke successful 2 pieces arsenic a fishing vessel was towing it to a larboard successful northwest Spain.
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