100-foot-long narco sub found in Colombia
The homemade drug submarine was found in a rural area of Timbiqui.
February 15th, 2011
06:31 AM ET

100-foot-long narco sub found in Colombia

The Colombian military has seized a 100-foot-long submarine capable of transporting eight tons of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, news reports say.

The vessel was found in a jungle area in Timbiqui in southwestern Colombia on Sunday, according to a report from RTT News.

Colombian navy officials said the homemade sub had two diesel engines and sophisticated navigational equipment that would enable it to travel to Mexico while remaining up to 30 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

The vessel was set up for a crew of four but was unoccupied when found,  RTT reported. Officials estimated it would have cost $2 million to build.

The submarine is just the latest example of crafts smugglers have made to try to get their illicit cargo past law enforcement.

Last year, VBS.TV got access to the Colombian naval base where many captured smuggling vessels are taken.

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Filed under: Colombia • Crime • Drugs • Mexico • World
soundoff (369 Responses)
  1. tom

    It's a joke people. This is the sub from the set of ABC's Lost in Hawaii. It's in HI. CNN has been had.

    February 15, 2011 at 4:41 pm | Report abuse |
  2. GatorALLin

    bam

    weed 100% causes u to turn stupid and paranoid pretty fast. no studies need to be done to figure that one out.
    The United States work force is already fat and lazy they dont need to be paranoid and stupid on top of that because of drug addicts. Make weed laws more strict 3 strikes and stay in jail forever.

    February 15, 2011 at 4:42 pm | Report abuse |
  3. FlyGuyInSJ

    To all you who say this thing couldn't run submerged, the snorkel is in plain view, protruding from the top of the sail.

    You don't see planes, it's true, but the entire forward third of the craft is out of the picture; that's where the control surfaces are.

    This is definitely not intended to be a surface craft; it would be pretty unstable on the surface compared to a regular boat, and it has a higher profile than a low-profile boat. It would be idiotic to design a surface craft like that. This is a sub.

    I wonder just how many of these are out there? This is the second one in less than a year that has been seized.

    February 15, 2011 at 4:47 pm | Report abuse |
  4. SonOfSteel

    Man~! I've always wanted a home-made sub to putt around in. I remember, as a kid, seeing silly little ads in comic books that tried to sell two-man subs...or something similar – but those ads never mentioned a $2-million price tag. Yup, the price is too high – if one must become a Rum-runner to afford such luxury toys. Ahh...but it sure would be cool to haunt the local fishing lakes with her~!
    Along with a periscope, I'd fit her out with a shark-fin...or even a huge 'Nessie' head – just to see the locals cut bait and run!

    February 15, 2011 at 4:49 pm | Report abuse |
  5. rob

    will rogers said that the best thing about prohibition is that its better than no liqour at all. take the black market money out of the equation and most of the violence goes with it.

    February 15, 2011 at 4:49 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Joe Blow

    I wonder how many of these things are sitting on the ocean floor with eight tons of cocaine and the remains of a few crew members inside.

    February 15, 2011 at 4:57 pm | Report abuse |
    • NavalEngineer

      Not enough to discourage them from building more I'd say.

      February 15, 2011 at 10:37 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Thinktank

    Seriously, everytime they find one of these, the drugs seems to "not" be there. hmmm

    February 15, 2011 at 5:02 pm | Report abuse |
  8. bob searcy

    sure wish theyd bring us some hash.. some smokable opium would be nice too..

    February 15, 2011 at 5:11 pm | Report abuse |
  9. bailoutsos

    Sheen able to do crack 'socially' and wants his sub back.

    February 15, 2011 at 5:20 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Lance

    I am no submarine expert, but that thing looks pretty dicey to me. I wonder how many litter the bottom of the deep blue sea.

    February 15, 2011 at 5:20 pm | Report abuse |
  11. SirChadsWorth

    Just legalize cannabis already.

    February 15, 2011 at 5:32 pm | Report abuse |
  12. thord

    glad they wrote and article on it instead of waiting for the owner to show up with some drugs.

    February 15, 2011 at 5:58 pm | Report abuse |
  13. KBinMN

    Don't we still operate the SOSUS array or did that stop with the end of the Cold War? If it's still up and running we should have heard this sub in opertaion. For that matter are own subs should have heard it. Sound carries for very long distances in water.

    February 15, 2011 at 6:17 pm | Report abuse |
    • Chris

      RTFA and/or learn a little geography. The route was from Colombia to Mexico.

      February 15, 2011 at 9:26 pm | Report abuse |
  14. kat

    someone needs to reread the article. 2 million not twelve. and if its going under water, for 2 mil, it has electric.

    February 15, 2011 at 6:26 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Dennis

    Subs go up, subs go down. You can't explain that.

    February 15, 2011 at 6:37 pm | Report abuse |
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