Counternarcotics police officers guard a submarine seized from the FARC's 29th Front, in Mayorquin, Buenaventura September 24, 2011. Colombian authorities said that the submersible ship seized could be used to carry seven tons of cocaine illegally to any port in Central America. Fredy Builes/Reuters
Members of the Colombian Navy stand guard on top of a seized submarine built by drug smugglers in a makeshift shipyard in Timbiqui, department of Cauca February 14, 2011. Colombian authorities said the submersible craft was to be used to transport 8 tons of cocaine illegally into Mexico. Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters
US coast guards and Costa Rica's security officials examine a submarine-like vessel held at the Costa Rican Cost Guard station in Puntarenas September 17, 2008. The US coast guard captured the 59-foot steel and fiberglass vessel equipped with sophisticated navigation equipment and stuffed with seven tons of cocaine, Costa Rican authorities said on Tuesday. Monica Quesada/Reuters
The interior of a semi-submersible vessel that was caught in the Pacific Ocean with about seven tons of cocaine September 2008 is seen at the US Coast Guard base in Key West, Florida February 17, 2009. Known as 'coffins,' the sleek jungle-built submarines steam their way north from Colombia through Pacific waters to deliver tons of illegal drugs headed for the US market. Carlos Barria/Reuters
A member of the Colombian Navy stands guard at the entrance of a semi-submarine, which, according to Colombian authorities, is used to transport illicit drugs, at the Atrato River in Turbo province, near Medellin, June 1, 2009. A total of nine semi-submarines have been confiscated in 2009, preventing drug smugglers from exporting about 30 tons (27,216 kg) of cocaine. John Vizcaino/Reuters
A makeshift submarine is lifted out of the water at Bahia Malaga on the Pacific coast, July 24, 2007. During an operation Colombian Navy soldiers arrested four alleged drug traffickers and seized a makeshift submarine which was used for transporting cocaine. Colombian Navy/Reuters
A police stands guard in front of two semi-submarine confiscated by Colombian navy, which according to Colombian authorities are used to transport illicit drugs, near the Playa del Vigia village in Narino province, June 4, 2009. Jose Miguel Gomez/Reuters
A Russian-designed submarine built to smuggle drugs out of Colombia, was confiscated by police on the outskirts of Bogota September 7, 2000, authorities said. The submarine could have had the capacity to carry at least 150 metric tons of cocaine or heroin. A statement from the National Police said the 100-foot (30-metre) sub was seized in a raid on a warehouse in a working-class neighborhood 18 miles (30 km) west of the capital. General Gilibert said Russian - language documents found alongside the partially completed vessel led authorities to conclude that 'the Russian Mafia or Russian technicians' were involved in its construction. Reuters
Part of the 30-count-indictment against Russian-born Ludwig Fainberg, who law enforcement officials say ran a criminal enterprise in Miami and is in jail awaiting trial with associates Juan Almeida and Nelson P. Yester, involves an attempt to purchase this Russian submarine and crew to smuggle cocaine for the drug cartels. The deal did not go through.
For years, smugglers have been using semi-submersibles to traffic drugs. As the US wages the war on drugs, Colombia’s Pacific coast is the Silicon Valley of narco-innovation.
Stacked along one edge of the Bahía Málaga naval base is what authorities call “the museum” – a long row of impounded vehicles that chart the evolution of the drug trafficking industry. There are the lumbering fishing boats that used to run marijuana in the 1970s and 1980s, Miami Vice-era “go-fast” boats, and an entire fleet of manned and unmanned semisubmersibles.
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