Massive drug bust leads to discovery of new Pacific trafficking route with “narco subs”

Authorities from dozens of countries seized over 225 metric tons of cocaine in a six-week mega-operation where they unearthed a new Pacific trafficking route from South America to Australia, the Colombian Navy said Wednesday. Officials said they had also seized “increasingly sophisticated” drug-laden semisubmersibles — better known as “narco subs” — that can travel 10,000 miles without refueling.

The latest phase of global naval operation “Orion” resulted in the seizure of more than 1,400 tons of drugs, including over 225 tons of cocaine and 128 tons of marijuana, Navy official Orlando Enrique Grisales told reporters.

More than 400 people were arrested in the operation targeting oceans, coasts, rivers and ports around the globe in October and November.

“This is perhaps the largest seizure of cocaine in transit made by Colombia in history,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media.

The massive bust involved the security agencies of the United States, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands and several other nations, as well as multiple international organizations.

The seizure deprived drug cartels of more than $8.4 billion dollars, according to a Navy statement.

Grisales said officials also seized a semisubmersible wood-and-fiber glass vessel on its way to Australia with five tons of Colombian cocaine.

This was the third such vessel discovered in this area, revealing a “new route” of trafficking with sophisticated boats that can cover the distance of some 10,000 miles without needing to refuel.

A kilogram of cocaine is sold for up to $240,000 in Australia, said Grisales — about six times more than the price in the United States.

“It is a route that is becoming increasingly profitable because prices are much higher in Australia,” a security source told AFP.

“Initially, these boats were used mainly to take the drugs out of the country and move them off the coast of Colombia and then transfer them to ships,” added the source.

“It has been found that these semisubmersibles, sometimes even submersibles, are now increasingly sophisticated, with very fine engineering.”

Semisubmersibles, which cannot go fully underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers as they can sometimes elude detection by law enforcement. The vessels are sometimes seized in Colombian waters while heading to the United States, Central America and Europe. In June, the Colombian Navy said it seized two “narco subs” off the country’s Pacific coast that together contained almost 5 tons of cocaine.

In February, Colombian authorities on a search-and-rescue mission for two missing fishermen found a “narco sub” loaded with more than 4 tons of cocaine. A few weeks before that, the Colombian navy intercepted a semisubmersible loaded with more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine in the Pacific Ocean.

The latest “Orion” operation also uncovered previously-unknown alliances between cartels from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with groups from Europe and Oceania.

“It is not just a pyramid structure as the cartels once were. Today they are organized crime networks joined together,” said Grisales.

Colombia is the world’s biggest cocaine producer and exporter, mainly to the United States and Europe.

Last year, the South American country set a new record for cocaine production and cultivation of the coca leaf it is made from. (CBS News)

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