Colombia Seizes First Narco Drone Sub on Test Run in South America

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The Colombian navy on Wednesday announced its first seizure of an unmanned narco sub equipped with a Starlink antenna off its Caribbean coast.

The semi submersible vessel was not carrying drugs, but the Colombian navy and Western security sources based in the region believed it was a trial run by a cocaine trafficking cartel.

"It was being tested and was empty," a naval spokeswoman confirmed.

Manned semisubmersibles built in clandestine jungle shipyards have been used for decades to ferry cocaine north from Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer, to Central America or Mexico.

But in recent years, they have been sailing much farther, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

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Record Breaking Narco Sub Seizure Reveals New Trans-Pacific Smuggling Route

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The discovery of a semi-submersible vessel carrying cocaine in the Pacific was part of a global six-week operation against drug smugglers.

Colombia's navy has uncovered a new drug smuggling route from South America to Australia after intercepting a "narco submarine" packed with cocaine in the Pacific Ocean.

The discovery was made during a six-week anti-narcotics operation — carried out jointly by Colombian authorities and security officials from dozens of other countries — that resulted in the seizure of at least 225 tonnes of cocaine, according to media reports.

"This is perhaps the largest seizure of cocaine in transit made by Colombia in history," Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X.

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