Pubdate: Tue, 21 Nov 2006
Source: Herald, The (UK)
Copyright: 2006 The Herald
Contact:  http://www.theherald.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/189
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

HOME-MADE SUBMARINE HELD TONS OF COCAINE

THE sight of three PVC pipes skimming the ocean's surface off the 
Pacific coast tipped off authorities in Costa Rica, who have seized a 
home-made submarine packed with three tons of cocaine. Four men were 
arrested after they were found travelling inside the 49ft wood and 
fibreglass craft, breathing through the pipes. The submarine was 
spotted oon Friday 103 miles off Costa Rica's coast near Cabo Blanco 
National Park on the Nicoya peninsula, said Security Minister 
Fernando Berrocal. It moved at about 7mph and was about 6ft below the surface.

"This is the first time in the country's history that a craft with 
these characteristics has been caught near the national coasts," 
Berrocal said. US Coast Guard, US Drug Enforcement Administration 
agents, FBI and Colombian officials aided Costa Rican authorities in 
the operation. Two Colombians, a Guatemalan and a Sri Lankan man were 
arrested and taken to the United States since they were captured in 
international waters, Berrocal said.

Officials took the submarine to a Coast Guard station and were trying 
to determine its origin. It was found with several tanks of fuel, but 
Costa Rican authorities said the makeshift vessel, which had a bailer 
to keep out water, was unlikely to have travelled any great distance. 
In March, the Colombian navy seized a 60ft-long, fibreglass submarine 
that likely was used to haul tons of cocaine out to speedboats in the 
Pacific Ocean headed for Central America and on to the United States. 
Three people were arrested and two speedboats seized during the 
operation, but no narcotics were found.

Colombian authorities say smuggling cocaine by sea has become the top 
method of transport in recent years, as radar systems have made it 
extremely difficult to smuggle drugs in small airplanes without being 
detected. So far this year, Costa Rican authorities have seized 18 
tons of cocaine. 
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