"Evolution of the “Narco-sub” — Semi-Submersibles, Go-Fast" Topic

…LPVs and VSVs

"In the 1990s, rumors began to spread that the Colombian cartels were moving cocaine to the United States by submarine. In 2006 the navy intercepted a "narco-sub" off Costa Rica with 3.5 tonnes of cocaine on board. In 2019, thirty-three submarines were intercepted by Colombian authorities, an average of almost three a month, most of them along the Pacific coast.

The Guardian quotes Admiral Hernando Enrique Mattos Dager, in charge of Colombia's Poseidon taskforce against drug trafficking, saying, "Large quantities of cocaine are transported by sea," he said. "It is much easier to move a tonne of cocaine by sea than by plane because there are more checks on freight at airports." He estimates that 80% percent of the country's illicit drugs leave via the Pacific coast and 14% go via the Caribbean…."
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Amicalement
Armand

The article makes one to believe that the first Narco-sub was captured in 2006. This is what happens when you use Wiki as a sole source of info.

Glup!…

Amicalement
Armand

Makes sense to move them in this manner, if interdiction via other methods is so effective.

I'm surprised though that more doesn't go via more traditional means for at least part of the route, since minisubs on the high seas seem to be a very dicey proposition from a delivery standpoint. Lots of things can go very, very wrong, rather quickly, and on the open sea, there's not much chance of fixing things.

It seems that the money is worth the risk …!

Amicalement
Armand

If one sinks for good with a load on do all the fish in the area become addicts?

Ha!Ha!….

Amicalement
Armand

The routes they follow don't go too far out into the ocean. They follow the coast, far enough out to be stealthy. That way if they are lost, it is much easier to recover them.

If one sinks, it sinks. If one leaks, all the fish die.