this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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CRIME Drone "narco sub" — equipped with Starlink antenna — seized for the first time in the Caribbean

Updated on: July 3, 2025 / 6:29 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

The Colombian navy on Wednesday announced its first seizure of an unmanned "narco sub" equipped with a Starlink antenna off its Caribbean coast.

The semisubmersible vessel was not carrying drugs, but the Colombian navy and Western security sources based in the region told AFP they believed it was a trial run by a cocaine trafficking cartel.

"It was being tested and was empty," a naval spokeswoman confirmed to AFP.

Manned semi-submersibles built in clandestine jungle shipyards have been used for decades to ferry cocaine north from Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer, to Central America or Mexico.

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[–] credo@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Well I hope it’s the only time, because catching it for the second time would be silly. They don’t do catch and release do they?

[–] IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Some are actually put on display like a trophy by the police or military group that captured it.

Not entirely sure what the policy is for these sorts of things, but I do know various countries Coast Guards and Navies will use abandoned boats, lifeboats, etc. for target practice. It actually serves a couple of purposes, including live fire training. It also ensures the boat will sink, which means other boats won’t spot it, call it in, and cause an unnecessary search & rescue operation all over again for the same vessel. It’s also far safer for the crews to just sink it than it is to tow it. And if they’re busy towing one of these in then it means hours or even days where they can’t be out patrolling and responding to emergencies, etc.

Having said all that I could see them wanting to keep a sub like this since it’s demonstrating a new tactic. Investigators might want to take a close look at how it’s put together. If it wasn’t for that then I could see them just scuttling it after they recovered any drugs (not that there were any in this case).