U.S. Coast Guard intercepts ‘drug-sub’ smuggling $165M in cocaine
A boarding team from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Valiant board a semi-submersible vessel suspected of smuggling cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Sept. 5, 2019.
A boarding team from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Valiant board a semi-submersible vessel suspected of smuggling cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Sept. 5, 2019.
This wasn’t The Hunt for Red October, but perhaps The Hunt for Snow in September.
A 40-foot self-propelled semi-submersible — also called a narco-submarine — was spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Eastern Pacific in time to interrupt the delivery of 12,000 pounds of cocaine, the agency announced Tuesday.
A maritime patrol aircraft spotted the craft, usually a difficult task, and the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant was pointed in the vessel’s direction. Valiant crew members, the Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team and the Colombian Navy hopped aboard to arrest the crew of four. But they could offload only 1,100 pounds of cocaine.
“The remaining cocaine on the semi-submersible could not be safely extracted due to stability concerns of the vessel,” the Coast Guard said in a release.
The 1,100 pounds of cocaine the U.S. Coast Guard says it was able to offload from the self-propelled semi-submersible it intercepted in the Eastern Pacific.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class Luke Clayton
The Coast Guard put the value of the cocaine $165 million.
Since 1989, David J. Neal’s domain at the Miami Herald has expanded to include writing about Panthers (NHL and FIU), Dolphins, old school animation, food safety, fraud, naughty lawyers, bad doctors and all manner of breaking news. He drinks coladas whole. He does not work Indianapolis 500 Race Day.
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