The discovery of a semi-submersible vessel carrying cocaine in the Pacific was part of a global six-week operation against drug smugglers.
Colombia’s navy has uncovered a new drug smuggling route from South America to Australia after intercepting a “narco submarine” packed with cocaine in the Pacific Ocean.
The discovery was made during a six-week anti-narcotics operation — carried out jointly by Colombian authorities and security officials from dozens of other countries — that resulted in the seizure of at least 225 tonnes of cocaine, according to media reports.
“This is perhaps the largest seizure of cocaine in transit made by Colombia in history,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X.
The interception is said to have deprived drug gangs of at least $8.4 billion (€8 billion), according to Colombia’s navy.
At least 400 people were reportedly arrested in the crackdown, “Operation Orion”, which also stopped illegal arms shipments and led to the arrests of migrant smugglers.
Media reports said one of the six semi-submersible vessels — or “narco submarines” — intercepted in the operation was bound for Australia, but was stopped 2,000 kilometres southwest of Clipperton Island, an uninhabited French coral atoll in the Pacific.
Colombian officials reportedly said it was the third such vessel they had discovered in that part of the Pacific, and that the boats were capable of sailing the distance of at least 16,000 kilometres without needing to refuel at sea.
The 10-25 metre vessels are not fully submersible, but sit low in the water and can hardly be seen as they skim the ocean.
“This is a new route that they have opened for semi-submersibles,” Manuel Rodríguez, head of the Colombian navy’s anti-narcotics unit, told the media on Wednesday.
A kilogram of cocaine can sell for up to $240,000 (€227,000) in Australia, about six times higher than the price in the US, according to Colombian security forces. OECD data shows that Australians are the top per capita consumers of cocaine globally, followed by their counterparts in the UK.
The growing use of narco submarines is a likely response to intensified maritime security operations as criminal gangs try to evade detection, narcotics experts have said.
Colombia’s navy captured 10 narco submarines last year, as the country struggles to limit cocaine production.
Rebel groups and drug trafficking gangs have lately taken over territory that was abandoned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, following the group’s 2016 peace agreement with the government.
The amount of land in Colombia dedicated to the cultivation of coca leaves — the raw ingredient for cocaine — rose 10% last year to cover the largest area in more than two decades, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said last month.
As a result, potential cocaine production in 2023 increased 53% to 2,644 metric tonnes, compared with 1,738 metric tonnes a year earlier, according to the UNODC’s research.
