Southern commandDrug smuggling becomes more sophisticated, II

We reported yesterday that Colombian drug cartels now rely more and more on small submersible to smuggle drugs into the United States. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have spotted 120 such submersible off the Pacific coast between Colombia and Mexico.

DLS’s James Dunnigan writes that these are not submarines in the true sense of the word, but semi-submersibles. They are 60 foot long and 12 feet wide fiberglass boats powered by a diesel engine, with a very low freeboard and a small “conning tower” providing the crew (usually of four) and engine, with fresh air, and permitting the crew to navigate the boat. A boat of this type is the only practical kind of submarine for drug smuggling. A real submarine, capable of carrying five tons of cocaine, would cost a lot more and require a highly trained crew. Moreover, a conventional sub actually spends most of its time running on the surface anyway, or just beneath it using a snorkel device to obtain air for the diesel engine crew. So the drug subs get the most benefit of a real submarine (which cost about $300 million these days) at a fraction of the cost.

Dunnigan writes that the semi-submersibles are built, often using specially made components brought in from foreign countries, in areas along the Colombian coast or other drug gang controlled territory nearby. Early on, Russian naval architects and engineers were discovered among those designing and building these boats. This did not last, as the Russian designs were too complex and expensive. Instead, local boat builders created and refined the current design. Some foreign experts have been seen in the area, apparently to help the boat builders with some technical problem. These subs cost over $700,000 to construct, and carry up to ten tons of cocaine. The boat builders are getting rich, constructing the boats in well hidden locations up the rivers that empty into the Pacific. Colombian security forces are bringing more troops into this coastal areas, and in one recent week found five of these subs (completed or under construction.) Troops and police are also going after the materials (fiberglass) needed to build the boats, and the suppliers who are getting the building materials for the gangs. This could force the gangs down the coast, to Ecuador, but the coast, and local conditions there, are not as conducive to sub building. So the gangs are fighting hard to keep