A narco submarine with $194 million worth of cocaine was almost caught by the US Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations. The narco submarine was seen in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on March 2.
A P-3 Long Range Tracker, a part of a joint military-law-enforcement task force, interrupted the self-propelled narco submarine before it completely sank. The agents confiscated more than 12,800 pounds that is worth $193,939,000 of cocaine, according to Business Insider. The narco submarine was operated by four people, who were also arrested during the CBP operations. The craft became unstable before it completely vanished in the water surface. Narco submarines are semi-submersible craft that are used for drug smuggling.
"Our crews will continue to take every opportunity to disrupt this type of transnational criminal activity," said John Wassong, the director of the National Air Security Operations Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The CBP regarded the operation a success even the narco submarine plummeted into the water, Yahoo reports. Narco submarines are usually camouflaged vessels that are made in Colombia, which is a major center for cocaine production. The vessels are only equipped with a wheelhouse, an exhaust pipe, and an airstack and are built to travel below the water surface.
This type of cooperation and teamwork produces these kinds of results where suspects are arrested and narcotics prevented from reaching US shores," said John Wassong, director of the National Air Security Operations Center at Corpus Christi. "Our crews will take every opportunity to disrupt this type of transnational criminal activity," News Vice reported.
It wasn't the first time for CBP to capture a semi-submersible vessel loaded with cocaine before it sank down into the water. The CBP had stopped a narco submarine containing nearly 16,000 pounds of cocaine last year. Before the authorities were able to confiscate everything, the ship sank.
