BF2S Forums 3.5 ton "white whale" found only 6 feet under water off Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - The U.S. Coast Guard seized a homemade submarine carrying 3.5 tons of cocaine off Costa Rica and arrested two Colombians, a Guatemalan and a Sri Lankan, Costa Rican officials and media reported Sunday.

The submarine, made of wood and fiberglass, was unlike military submarines or those used by oceanographers. It could only submerge 6 feet under water, Costa Rican Coast Guard spokesman Jose Antonio Fallas told Reuters. When submerged, three tubes remained above water to allow the men to breathe.

The six-foot-wide, 45-foot-long vessel was found last Wednesday near the remote Coco Island, southwest of the Central American mainland, and had traveled hundreds of miles from Colombia on its way to the United States, perhaps via Guatemala or Mexico.

It was taken to the Costa Rican port of Puntarenas where it arrived during the weekend. The four suspected traffickers were taken to the United States to be prosecuted, Fallas said. The cocaine, with a street value estimated at around $300 million, was also shipped to the United States.

The DEA and FBI participated in the operation as well.

The U.S. Coast Guard frequently patrols for drug shipments off Costa Rica but the latest seizure was believed to be the first time a submarine has been caught there.

Drug cartels have tried to use submarines at least three times in the past:

Last March, Colombia seized a homemade sub near San Buenaventura, Colombia. No drugs were found but officials estimated it was capable of transporting four tons of drugs.
In 2000, Colombian officials found a partially built submarine near Bogota that would have been 100 feet long and able to carry 10 tons of drugs.
In the 1990s, reports surfaced that traffickers were trying to buy a surplus Soviet submarine.
The DEA says its cocaine seizures steadily increased from 1997 to 2003, and then jumped in 2004 and 2005 to more than 110 tons each year.

Last edited by grobmobularb (2006-11-20 09:13:41)