Posted on 03/25/2005 1:22:30 PM PST by Flavius
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian police have found a homemade submarine capable of carrying $200 million (107.8 million pounds) worth of cocaine on a Pacific Ocean smuggling mission, police say.
Police, who acted on a tip, made no arrests after finding the submarine hidden in the port of Tumaco, near the border with Ecuador, the Administrative Security Department detective force said on Friday
It was the second publicized case of Colombian drug smugglers trying to use submarines. In 2000, another underwater vessel was found far from the coast in the Andean mountain capital, Bogota.
"They started building the submarine about six months ago, using small pieces so as not to make people suspicious. They wanted to have it ready for Easter because they thought the police would drop their guard," said Eduardo Fernandez, head of the DAS in the southern province of Valle del Cauca.
He did not say where the submarine appeared to be headed or how far it could travel. The vessel had the capacity to carry 10 tonnes of cocaine, which could be worth from $200 million to $300 million on U.S. streets.
Colombia's drug smugglers are always looking for ways of getting cocaine and heroin into big markets such as the United States and Europe. Methods include having people known as "mules" swallow drugs wrapped up in condoms, or hiding cocaine or heroin in cargo such as dog food.
Funds from cocaine help buy bullets for Marxist rebels and far-right paramilitary outlaws fighting a four-decade-old war, which claims thousands of lives a year. Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine and a major supplier of heroin to the United States.
No war fought on our borders can stop domestic drug production ... including nastier cocaine substitutes like meth.
True but we can do serious damage to the big drug cartels of south America if we shut down their market.
This one is for sale.
Not true! You just have to pick the right battles.
Like I said, the cost is enormous and it hurts for the drug cartels to lose them.
Not the first time, either. I believe the last one being constructed was actually going to be a worthy vessel too... luckily they got caught.
I didn't say losing a vehicle wouldn't hurt the cartel.
I know. Not arguing, just trying to clarify.
A far greater hurt would be laid on the cartels if the financial institutions who launder the drug money were taken down.
But that would then expose those who really have the dirty hands .... so we'll never see it happen.
Any unidentifed submarine, anywhere is called one name: target.
LOL
Yes, I do remember the ones I found.
This is a homemade one, no way would I want a ride in it.
The ones I found were only in the 5 to 10 million dollar class.
Don't forget Cuba has about 5 or 7 submarines in their navy.
Can you imagine going to sea in the one your photo shows?
Is that the Nunley, if that is the correct name for the Civil War Sub, that was found last year, with the bodies still in it.
"I'm thinking that the reliability of a "homemade submarine" might be
somewhere along the lines of a hand knitted parachute."
I love your description, it is perfect.
Cal this is a major find, I had no idea it would be so simple to make a sub, the uses are unlimited.
And I thought an Ultra light would be fun, and wild....
Bill said no, he had this thing against broken bones.
cripplecreek: It can be won but it must be fought on our borders.
Here's Sheriff Arpaio's take on the success of the WOD:
[begin excerpt] Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., know the frustration in that sentiment.
"I don't know how to stop the drug traffic, and I've been in it for 38 years," the sheriff, widely touted as the toughest cop in the nation, told Harper's in 2001. "I think if I knew, I'd be the president. I can give you what's been said 50 years ago. ... It's the same thing we're saying today tough law enforcement, prevention, rehabilitation ... Nothing's changed.
The stuff coming across the border that we catch? Ten percent. Fifty years ago, 10 percent. Today, 10 percent. Nothing's changed ... I don't know how to solve the problem. Don't ask me."
First thing I noticed. The word million shouldn't be there inside the parentheses. It makes much more sense that way. Not that I know how much cocaine would cost or anything.
The USS Jimmy Carter I presume?
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