Maritime Executive – The indictment of two former employees of the Colombian Navy has revealed an elaborate plot by one of the country’s most notorious drug gangs to use GPS devices to evade capture by Colombian warships.

(Thanks to Alain)

ABC – The Colombian Navy has seized 225 tonnes of cocaine during a six-week operation that included the interception of a semi-submersible vessel in the Pacific Ocean. Colombian authorities arrested more than 400 people and say they have uncovered a new drug trafficking route operating from South America to Australia.

(Thanks to Alain)

Naval News – Vice Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo Obregón, Chief of the Colombian Navy, shared his insights on the strategic vision and future prospects of the Navy in an exclusive interview with Naval News.

Covert Shores – The year end often sees a seasonal spike in narco-submarine activity. The Colombian military interdicted an LPV (low profile vessel) in the Pacific on December 24. The vessel was carrying 1,678 kilos of cocaine with an estimated value of $56,000,000. The design is unusual, being the first seen with a raised bow. There is a step down about halfway along the side. This is likely intended to improve seakeeping.

(Thanks to Alain)

El Snorkel – After sailing more than three thousand nautical miles from the Mayport Naval Station in the United States, the submarine ARC “Pijao” arrived in Colombia.

(In Spanish)

(Thanks to Alain)

El Snorkel – The ARC “Pijao” Submarine of the Colombian Navy will participate in the thirteenth version of the Diesel Electric Submarine Initiative operation. (In Spanish)

(Thanks to Alain)

Newsweek – The Colombian Navy says it has uncovered a clandestine shipyard housing two “semi-submersible” vessels and other equipment for shipping tons of illegal drugs in a rural village of a municipality along the Pacific Ocean.

(Thanks to Alain)

Vice – Óscar Moreno Ricardo spent two decades building submersibles that drug-traffickers use to move cocaine from Colombia to the United States and other countries in the region.

(Thanks to Alain)

USNI News – Central and South American drug runners are continuing to create new specialized smuggling vessels to move narcotics into the U.S., as evidenced by a sophisticated electric submersible seized earlier this month.

CIMSEC – The development of the Colombian Navy in the last decade has revealed an assertive regional naval force with the potential to evolve into a provider of regional security. This vision has materialized under the purpose of becoming a “medium regional force projection navy” with the right tools to exert sea control and cooperate with others to share what the Colombian military has learned during its historical fight against insurgencies and criminals. All of this, however, seems to be at risk…

– CIMSEC – Drug submarines (hereafter referred to as narcosubmarines) are manufactured in the thick jungles of eastern Colombia and are not the primitive vessels of one’s imagination. FARC’s narcosubmarines boast sophisticated anti-detection features and navigation, can haul up to 10 tons of cocaine, and can cost upwards of ten million U.S. dollars.

DefenseTech – A New ‘Submarine’ Threat

Norman Polmar writes that the increased use of semi-submersibles to bring drugs into the United States has raised the specter of similar craft being employed to transport terrorists, explosives, and elicit funds into the country. But the likelihood of terrorists going that route is extremely unlikely.

New York Times Magazine – Drug-Sub Culture

A look at the latest way to get drugs out of Columbia by submarine.

Washington Post – In the annals of the drug trade, traffickers have swallowed cocaine pellets, dissolved the powder into ceramics and flown the drug as far as Africa on flimsy planes — anything to elude detection and get a lucrative product to market. Now, the cartels seem to be increasingly going beneath the waves, relying on submarines built in clandestine jungle shipyards to move tons of cocaine.
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