Ghost submarine with $87.7 million of cocaine and two bodies aboard seized off coast of Colombia
It was like a scene straight out of “Narcos.”
The Colombian navy stumbled upon a chilling sight when it seized a ghost submarine and found two dead bodies board — along with more than $87.7 million worth of cocaine.
Officials estimated there was more than 2.6 tons of cocaine on the 49-foot-long vessel found floating in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.
Two survivors were also located and were in need of life-saving medical attention.
“Once the illegal device was located, military personnel found two individuals in poor health conditions on the outside of the vessel,” Colombia’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
“Apparently, there was an accident inside the semi-submersible due to the generation of toxic gases from the fuel,” the statement continued.
“The two men were treated and transported to a nearby vessel, where they were given the necessary medical attention to safeguard their lives.”
Both survivors — as well as the corpses and the coke haul — were brought to the municipality of Tumaco, “where they were presented to the Technical Investigation Corps of the Attorney General’s Office,” the statement concluded.
The Colombian government touted the navy’s efforts in preventing the drugs from being trafficked, estimating that it kept more than 6 million doses off the illegal market.
Officials also put out a video of the moment the officers boarded the partially submerged vessel and laid out the dozens of bricks of cocaine found inside.
The submarine was one of three recently seized by the government that allegedly belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), local media outlets reported.
FARC, the Marxist guerrilla group that attempted to overthrow Colombia’s government between 1964 and 2017, was involved in drug trafficking, kidnappings and other criminal activities to finance its work.
The group worked to develop narco-submarines, which, like the one found Sunday, can travel partially submerged to avoid detection by radar and other surveillance equipment.
A 2016 analysis of the submarines found that despite being constructed in remote areas in the jungle, the vessels were sophisticated enough to become fully submersible and transport more than 10 tons of drugs to illegal markets in Central America.
Following the bust on Sunday, Colombia’s Ministry of National Defense said it was committed to cracking down on any narco vessels in its country.
“The Colombian navy will continue deploying all its capabilities to counter the scourge of drug trafficking structures that commit crimes in the Colombian Pacific,” the agency said.
