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The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a submarine-like boat carrying more than five tonnes of cocaine worth $267 million in the Pacific Ocean earlier this month, officials said Monday.

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol aircraft spotted the vessel on March 2 and covertly followed it while the USCGC Bertholf, a Coast Guard cutter, attempted to catch up to it more than 480 kilometres southwest of Panama.

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“We’re talking about vast expanses of ocean here,” Lt. Donnie Brzuska, a Coast Guard spokesman, said.

The smuggling vessel, dubbed a “semi-submersible,” looks like a submarine, but lacks diving capabilities. They are “extremely difficult” to detect, with the hull almost completely submerged and only exhaust pipes and a cockpit visible, according to a Coast Guard news release on Monday.

The boarding of these vessels are extremely dangerous

On March 3, the Bertholf came within range and deployed interceptor boats to catch the semi-submersible. Video shows Coast Guard personnel approaching with guns drawn, as men sit on top of the vessel with their hands raised. Four men were arrested “without incident,” Lt. Brzuska said.

Though semi-submersibles are often “expertly crafted,” the Coast Guard treats each as “if it’s a sinking vessel” — because crews have intentionally scuttled them, Lt. Brzuska said.

“The boarding of these vessels are extremely dangerous,” he said.

The semi-submersible — the fifth intercepted by the coast guard in the past year — was carrying 5,800 kilograms of cocaine worth $267 million (US$203 million). A loaded handgun was found in the cockpit.

Lt. Brzuska would only say that the four suspects arrested during the operation are allegedly tied to “transnational organized crime networks.”

After removing the cargo and “mitigating the environmental concerns,” such as fuel and plastic, the Coast Guard sank the boat.