| | |  Technology News | September 2008 
Narco-Subs Pose New Threats
 Tad Trueblood - TheSpectrum
go to original
| | A narcotics smuggler is perched atop a mini-submarine carrying cocaine during an interception by US authorities in 2007. | |
| |
Narco-cartels are increasingly using large, semi-submersible vessels to bring drugs to the United States.
The US Coast Guard has publicized recent successes at interdicting these craft, and the details give some idea of what they're up against.
In the pre-dawn darkness of Sept. 13, a boarding team of four Coast Guardsmen, supported by a U.S. Navy ship, quietly pulled alongside a 59-foot hull sliding through the waves of the Pacific. It was moving northbound at about 10 knots, 350 miles off the coast of Guatemala. When the boarders banged on the hatch, the crewmen inside were totally surprised.
The smugglers' surprise quickly turned deadly, though, when they shouted back that they'd kill the boarding team, and tried to knock them into the ocean by suddenly reversing the engines. The crew then opened valves to sink the craft - with the boarding team still hanging on - but finally complied with orders to heave-to and come topside. For Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Todd Bagetis, "this was the most dangerous operation of my career." But inside, his team found seven tons of cocaine.
A few days later, another a self-propelled, semi-submersible (SPSS) was intercepted, carrying seven more tons - for a total of 14 tons and $383 million worth of drugs in just two craft. Seizures and cases involving SPSS are up dramatically, with the Coast Guard estimating it will have 85 cases involving these vessels in 2008. They averaged only four or five such cases over the previous six years. In July, Mexican authorities intercepted their first drug-smuggling semi-sub. Clearly, smugglers figure this method makes sense.
Narco-subs are increasing in size and sophistication. They're made of fiberglass and steel in hidden "shipyards" along river estuaries in various Latin American countries. The low profile makes them extremely difficult to spot, even on radar. Some can reach 12 knots in the open ocean and carry up to 10 tons. The vessel seized Sept. 13 could travel from South America to San Diego without refueling, and it sported hi-tech navigation and communications. There are reports of some SBSS being remotely piloted.
One implication is good news, of sorts. Traffickers may be finding it harder to move cargoes overland through Mexico. Either Mexican cartels are being affected by the government crackdown in their country - as Mexican officials have been claiming - or U.S. border enforcement is more effective. Another possibility is that Colombian cartels have found an efficient way to bypass the Mexican "middlemen" altogether.
A growing fleet of submersible craft, capable of covertly transporting tons of illicit cargo to our shores, poses a grave national security threat. U.S. military and homeland defense officials are asking serious questions about possible terrorist uses for these craft, and the dangerous nexus between the drug cartels and international terrorists.
Tad Trueblood has more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and the national security community. He blogs at www.thiscouldgetinteresting.com. |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us