Free Republic

Colombian drug smugglers deliberately sank a submarine off the country's Pacific coast this week that had been filled with tonnes of cocaine destined for the US, the country's navy said. The homemade submarine was spotted by a Colombian air force plane and pursued by Colombian navy and US Coast Guard boats. The submarine's four crew members opened the hatches and allowed water to enter before surrendering. The craft, with an estimated capacity of 12 tonnes of cocaine, sank in 3,000 metres of water, said Admiral Edgar Cely, the navy's chief of operations. The crew's clothing was covered with traces of...

A Georgia man who was caught red-handed as he sailed a drug-laden charter boat into a private marina in Point Clear last year will spend almost 5½ months in prison, a federal judge in Mobile ruled this afternoon. Gary Stephen Krist, 61, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to import cocaine and bringing illegal aliens into the country. Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade gave him a lighter sentence at the request of prosecutors, who said the defendant has provided “substantial assistance” to law enforcement investigators on the case. Krist’s stepson, who was waiting on the dock to unload the...