Shocking moment Peruvian Navy boards a small submarine bound for Mexico 200 miles off the coast carrying four men and TWO TONS of cocaine with a street value of $60M
- The Peruvian military seized a submarine Saturday transporting more than two tons of cocaine bound for Mexico, the government revealed Wednesday
- A Navy patrol unit intercepted the sub 200 miles off the coastal city of Talará after it was first tracked last Friday
- Peruvian prosecutor, Jorge Chávez, who oversees cases involving organized crime, said four men, including two Colombian nationals were nabbed
- The other two suspects were male nationals from Mexico and Ecuador
- Chávez said authorities were still investigating why the vessel traveled south after the illicit cargo was loaded at a port in Ecuador
- The narco sub is the first ever captured in Peruvian waters and comes just two weeks after police in Spain captured a submarine with three tons of cocaine
- That vessel, seized November 24, departed from Colombia and cross the Atlantic Ocean with at least $121 million worth of cocaine
A small submarine traveling from Ecuador to Mexico was stopped by the Peruvian military on Saturday carrying more than two tons of cocaine.
The Navy ship patrolling the Pacific Ocean discovered the sub 200 miles off the coastal city of Talará, the government announced Wednesday.
The vessel had four men on board, including two Colombian nationals. Authorities also arrested a man from Mexico and a man from Ecuador.
According to the Centre for Research on Globalization, the confiscated cocaine had an approximate street value of $60 million in the US.
Peru revealed Wednesday that it intercepted the submarine transporting cocaine through its waters. The vessel was seized by a Navy patrol unit Saturday
Peruvian Navy officers remove plastic bags of cocaine from the submarine that was intercepted Saturday
A Peruvian military officer guards two suspects atop a submarine that was seized Saturday, 200 miles off the coastal city of Talará. More than two tons of cocaine were confiscated
Jorge Chávez, the prosecutor in charge of organized crime cases in Peru, told the AFP that he was not sure why the vessel was traveling in the Andean nation’s waters after it departed from a port in Ecuador, its neighbor to the north.
The sub was first tracked Friday before the military raided it Saturday at 1:30pm local time, according to Agencia Andina, the state news agency.
Video released by the Peruvian Navy showed the moment the military officers descended on the grey submarine and removed several plastic bags filled with narcotics.
A serviceman later stood behind two of the suspects while four other Naval officers worked to bring to the surface one of the other men. The submarine was tugged to the Port of Paita.
More than two tons of cocaine were seized aboard a submarine intercepted Saturday by the Peruvian Navy in the Pacific Ocean, 200 miles off the coastal city of Talará
‘This is the first underwater (vehicle) captured in Peru. So far we know that the vessel was destined for Mexico,’ Chávez said.
‘We are asking the Navy for a technical report of its construction.’
The seized drug shipment and the crew were all transferred to the capital city of Lima.
Chávez said he was not sure which international criminal group the men were working for.
The Peruvian Navy’s operation comes two weeks after its counterpart in Spain busted a submarine in the northern coast transporting three tons of cocaine valued at $121 million.
The vessel was tracked while it sailed across the Atlantic from Colombia to Europe – a journey of 7,690 kilometers or 4,778 nautical miles.
The transatlantic sub was the first ever seized in Europe.
Spanish authorities seized a transatlantic submarine off the northern coast of Spain on November 24. The vessel, which started its voyage in Colombia, was transporting three tons of cocaine