Colombian military seizes 100-foot drug sub capable of holding 8 tons of cocaine - seized a dozen narcosubs last year -
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/02/15/2011-02-15_colombian_military_seizes_fullysubmersible_100foot_drug_sub_capable_of_holding_8.html#ixzz1E34UmKCD
The Colombian military has nabbed a sophisticated, 100-foot long submarine capable of transporting eight tons of cocaine to the coast of Mexico, authorities said Monday.
The fiberglass sub, which was seized in a jungle in Timbiqui, near the Colombia's southwestern Pacific coast, could carry a crew of four to six people, had two diesel engines and navigational equipment allowing it to remain fully submerged up to 30 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, navy officials said.
It also had a 16 ½ foot periscope and an air-conditioner to keep the crew cool during the trip. Authorities estimated it cost about $2 million to build.
The vessel was a step up technologically from previous narcosubs found in Colombia, which could not operate completely underwater.
Last July, authorities in neighboring Ecuador seized a fully submersible drug submarine.
Gen. Jaime Herazo said he believed the sub belonged to "narco-traffickers coupled with narco-terrorists, who received a heavy blow [due to its capture]."
Col. Manuel Hurtado, chief of staff of Colombia's Pacific Command, told The Associated Press that intelligence reports and tips from informants led soldiers to the sub.
It was empty when troops found it, and no arrests were made.
Hurtado said the sub had "the capacity to sail totally underwater and the ability to travel to the coast of Mexico without surfacing," adding that the trip would take eight to nine days.
The Colombian military has seized 32 semi-submersible narcosubs, including a dozen last year, Hurtado said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/02/15/2011-02-15_colombian_military_seizes_fullysubmersible_100foot_drug_sub_capable_of_holding_8.html#ixzz1E34UmKCD
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