MADRID (AP) – Spanish police announced Friday that they had seized a homemade narco-submarine capable of carrying up to 2 metric tons (2.2 tons) of cargo.
Police found the 9-meter-long (30-foot) ship last month while it was being built in Malaga, on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, during a wider international drug operation involving five other countries and the criminal agency of European Union Europol.
The 3 meter wide (10 feet wide) semi-submersible vessel is made of fiberglass and plywood panels attached to a structure, has three portholes on one side and is painted light blue. It has two 200 horsepower engines operated from the inside.
Rafael Perez, head of the Spanish police, said the ship never sailed.
“We think he would go to the high seas to find a mother ship (to) take the drugs on board,” probably cocaine, before returning to Spain, Perez told reporters.
“It’s like an iceberg,” he said of the ship’s structure. “In practice, almost everything is underwater, except for the top, which is the only part that would be seen from another ship or helicopter.”
In the past, similar drug smuggling ships have been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, especially in South and Central America. They stay low in the water to escape detection and are rarely able to fully submerge.
The broader police operation against the alleged international smuggling ring collected hundreds of pounds of cocaine, hashish and marijuana in various places in Spain, with 52 people arrested.
Spanish police said in a statement that policemen from Colombia, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Portugal were also involved in the operation.