Spanish police said on Friday they seized a 30-foot narco submarine that could carry 2.2 tons of narcotics, a sign of the length of the cartels that will be transporting illegal drugs to the thriving European market.
Police said they discovered the narco sub in Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol last month as part of an international police operation that led to the arrest of 52 people and the seizure of more than 400 kilograms of cocaine, along with other illegal drugs. drugs and cash.
The ship was made of fiberglass and plywood and powered by two 200-horsepower engines, although it had never sailed, police said.
Narco subs are semi-submersible boats that usually float below the waterline and have long transported cocaine from Colombia to Central America. In 2019, Spanish law enforcement discovered a narco sub off the Spanish Atlantic coast, confirming persistent rumors that they could reach Europe.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration has said that Europe may have surpassed the US as the world’s largest cocaine market. Most cocaine shipments are hidden on container ships that dock in major ports, such as Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.