Click to play
Footage of the US Coast Guard boarding the submarine
Nearly seven tonnes of cocaine seized from a submarine-like vessel off the coast of Honduras have been unloaded in Florida by the US Coast Guard.
Suspected smugglers were intercepted allegedly transporting the drugs, worth an estimated $180m (£110m), in mid-July.They were arrested after trying to sink their own vessel with most of drugs still on board, said officials.
An FBI dive team recovered the remaining cocaine load last week.
The Coast Guard said in a statement it was the first time the authorities had caught a "drug sub" in western Caribbean waters.
Jungle-made submarines A C-130 fixed-wing aircraft first spotted the self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) close to the water's surface on 13 July near the Honduran province of Gracias a Dios.
FBI divers recovered the rest of the drugs about 70ft (21m) below the water's surface The suspected smugglers jumped into life rafts after pulling a valve inside the SPSS to sink it with the narcotics on board, Coast Guard Lt Patrick Montgomery told the BBC.
"The Coast Guard is always on the lookout for anything that looks suspicious in the water and that definitely includes 15,000lb [6.8 tonnes] of drugs," Lt Montgomery said.
Coast Guard crews took the vessel's five crew members into custody and were able to retrieve a small portion of the cocaine before the vessel sank.
FBI divers retrieved the remainder of the narcotics last week, about 70ft (21m) below the water's surface.
Coast Guard officials said the drugs, which were unloaded in a port in Miami, will now be turned over to the federal government.
SPSS vessels are regularly used to transport drugs along Central America's Pacific Coast.
Earlier reports based on statements made by Honduran government indicated that the SPSS was carrying 2.5 tonnes of cocaine.
No comments:
Post a Comment