The Colombian navy said on Wednesday, July 2, that it seized an unmanned narco-submarine for the first time in South American waters. Authorities said they found the vessel off the country’s Caribbean coast as part of a larger crackdown on drug trafficking involving 62 countries called “Multinational Strategy Orion.”
Colombian officials told AFP the narco-sub did not have any drugs on board, but was equipped with a Starlink internet satellite. They believe traffickers were using their internet capabilities to operate the vessel, but have not yet confirmed that.
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They told the outlet they believe the sub had been sent out as part of a test run for the Gulf Clan cartel – Colombia’s largest drug trafficking ring, known primarily for cocaine. It’s also one of the criminal organizations recently designated a foreign terrorist group by the U.S. State Department at the order of President Donald Trump.
Colombian officials said the submersible had the capacity to transport 1.5 tons of cocaine.
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Nearly 80% of narcotics smuggled into the United States come through maritime lanes, and 30% of those are brought via “narco-subs.”
What is a narco-sub?
Narco subs are either submarines or submersibles used by drug traffickers to avoid law enforcement detection.
While they’ve been used for decades to smuggle cocaine north from Colombia, they’ve gained the ability to make longer trips in recent years. Reports have shown them to make trips across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Last year, Colombian authorities discovered a new trafficking route from South America across the Pacific Ocean when they stopped a semi-submersible carrying five tons of cocaine bound for Australia.
How does Starlink factor in?
This is not the first narco sub to be equipped with Starlink, a group of satellites operated by billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX with the mission of bringing internet to remote areas of the globe.
In November, Indian police with the Andaman and Nicobar islands outpost seized more than 13,000 pounds of meth in a Myanmar boat. They say the boat used Starlink to transport the nearly $4.25 billion worth of meth into Indian waters.
A growing issue
The prevalence of narco-subs has become a growing issue worldwide.
In the past year, Mexican authorities have intercepted and seized multiple. Just last week, on Friday, June 27, the country’s security secretary announced the seizure of 3.5 tons of cocaine in a narco-sub off the coast of Guerrero.
In March, Portuguese police announced they’d seized nearly 6.5 tons of cocaine from a semi-submersible about 500 nautical miles off the Azores archipelago. They say it was bound for the Iberian Peninsula.
According to a report out of Claremont University, nearly 80% of narcotics smuggled into the U.S. come through maritime lanes, and of that, 30% came via narco-subs.
