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Drug-Smuggling Subs Go High-Tech

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 6, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

(Newser) – It's not a lark anymore: Miniature submarines now carry about a third of the cocaine smuggled into the US. With the numbers up, the Washington Post takes a look at how these so-called semi-submersibles have gotten more and more high-tech over the last 2 years. Authorities say sub builders are even working on plans to run the fiberglass vessels—most of them built in the jungles of Colombia—via remote control.

"The vessels do not fully submerge but skim the sea surface," write William Booth and Juan Forero. "They move quickly at night, then drift like sleeping whales during the day." After traveling from Colombia to Central America, the drugs are transferred to land and the subs sunk. A typical vessel can carry 6 tons of drugs, worth about $100 million. Said one DEA agent: "You try finding a floating log in the middle of the Pacific."

[Images (3)]

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Homemade semi-submersible vessels seized on land by Colombian authorities from drug traffickers. (AP Photo)

A sailor stands on top of a homemade semi-submersible vessel. (AP Photo)

Colombian Navy personnel stand on a homemade semi-submersible. (AP Photo)

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They are not very comfortable, but they are now very seaworthy. They are capable of carrying multi-ton cargos. They can travel thousands of miles without refuel or resupply. And they are very hard to detect.
- Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Nimmich

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