Ecuador, DEA Bust Drug-Smuggling Sub

The Drug Enforcement Administration said yesterday it has helped seize a diesel electric-powered submarine constructed in a remote jungle and capable of transporting tons of cocaine. The sub was captured near a tributary close to the Ecuador-Colombia border, and Ecuadorean authorities said it was seized before it could make its maiden voyage.

The sophisticated camouflaged vessel has a conning tower, periscope and air-conditioning system. It measured about nine-feet-high from the deck plates to the ceiling and stretched nearly a 100 feet long. The DEA says it was built for trans-oceanic drug trafficking. One person has been taken into custody. DEA Andean Regional Director Jay Bergman said the sub's nautical and payload capacity is a serious development. (More submarine stories.)