Spain detains four Colombians rescued from suspected drug-transporting submarine

• Spanish authorities intercepted a 20-meter submarine suspected of transporting drugs from South America to Europe.
• The Civil Guard believes the submarine transported cocaine due to its characteristics and crew's behavior.
• The crew surfaced safely while the submarine flooded and sank with its cargo.

Spanish authorities intercepted another submarine suspected of transporting drugs from South America to Europe and arrested four Colombian nationals who were crewing the vessel, officials announced Thursday.

Police rescued the occupants after the occupants had scuttled the 20-meter (65-foot) long narco-submarine 518 kilometers (312 miles) west of Cadiz on Tuesday, as it was heading for the mainland.

The Civil Guard said in a statement on Wednesday that due to the characteristics of the boat and the crew’s behavior, authorities believed it transported cocaine.

The statement added that the crew surfaced safely while the submarine flooded and sank with its cargo. The Civil Guard informed the Associated Press that they would not attempt to retrieve the vessel, which is believed to be at a depth of 1,000 meters (0.6 miles).

The submarine, which departed from Colombia, resembles those intercepted by authorities in previous operations in northwestern Spain in 2019, during which three metric tons of cocaine were confiscated, and last year.

Similar vessels have been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, particularly near Central and South America. They typically sail underwater at shallow depths and rarely can submerge fully.

The Colombian and Ecuadorian authorities have been collaborating on the seizure of this type of semi-submersible. The Colombian Navy reported that in 2024, they uncovered 13 such vessels loaded with illicit drugs in the Pacific.

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