U.S. Customs and Coast Guard seize eight tons of cocaine in small submarine in Pacific Ocean

A small semi-submersible vessel containing four people and eight tons of cocaine was discovered by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on July 18 in the eastern Pacific Ocean. A small semi-submersible vessel containing four people and eight tons of cocaine was discovered by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on July 18 in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Photo: U.S. Customs And Border Protection Office Photo: U.S. Customs And Border Protection Office Image 1 of / 40 Caption Close U.S. Customs and Coast Guard seize eight tons of cocaine in small submarine in Pacific Ocean 1 / 40 Back to Gallery

A small semi-submersible vessel containing four people and eight tons of cocaine was discovered by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on July 18 in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The self-propelled craft was first spotted off the coast of El Salvador by a Navy maritime patrol aircraft flying overhead. The semi-sub was hundreds of miles offshore in international waters. The U.S. Coast Guard was called in to assist with intercepting the craft.

Four individuals were detained by the Coast Guard boarding team in the process.

Roughly274 bales of cocaine were found in the semi-sub, weighing eight tons (16,000 pounds) according to U.S. Customs officials. They estimated the total street value of the cocaine in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

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A large African bush elephant can weigh up to eight tons. A blue whale calf can weigh eight tons at birth. Class 5 trucks like bucket trucks and large delivery trucks can also weigh in excess of eight tons.

Needless to say this was a large cocaine bust.

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Customs officials noted in a release that drug smugglers using semi-subs – known as "narco subs" – are not uncommon due to the low profile in open waters. Capturing them becomes hard for authorities as smugglers will scuttle their illicit cargo to make evasion easier.