All articles tagged with #narco subs
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned several individuals from Guyana and Colombia involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking to the U.S., Europe, and the Caribbean, utilizing boats, narco-submarines, and aircraft, with efforts supported by multiple U.S. agencies to disrupt these operations and target corrupt officials.
An international anti-drug operation led by Colombia has seized six 'narco subs' filled with cocaine, part of a larger bust involving 62 countries that captured over 1,400 metric tons of drugs. Among the haul was 225 metric tons of cocaine, including 5 tons found on a semi-submersible vessel en route from Colombia to Australia. This operation highlights the increasing targeting of Australia by international drug cartels due to high cocaine demand and prices. 'Narco subs' have been used since the late 1990s to evade law enforcement.
The U.S. Coast Guard seized over nine tons of cocaine from drug smuggling vessels in the Atlantic Ocean last month, with the largest seizure being over 5,500 pounds taken from a self-propelled semi-submersible. These "narco subs" are used to evade detection and have been intercepted en route to the U.S. or Europe in the past. The recent interception was the first in the Eastern Pacific since 2020, and the Colombian navy also conducted a large raid in October, seizing a semi-submersible loaded with 3.3 tons of cocaine.
Oscar Adriano Quintero Rengifo, also known as the "Prince of Semi-Submersibles," has been sentenced to over 20 years in federal prison for smuggling nearly 30,000 pounds of cocaine into the U.S. He is accused of operating a fleet of "narco subs" to transport drugs from South America to Central America, which were ultimately destined for the United States. Quintero Rengifo was part of a transnational criminal organization that primarily sent vessels such as self-propelled semi-submersible vessels to Guatemala, where the cocaine was then smuggled over the Guatemala/Mexican border and then into the United States.