…local law enforcement officials engaged

Guyanese law enforcement authorities have been contacted by the Spanish Police about a submarine that was discovered carrying thousands of tonnes of cocaine located off the coast of Aldan, in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain.
It is believed that this vessel was made in Guyana but that the massive quantity of cocaine was shipped out of Colombia, with Europe as its destination.
According to a senior law enforcement source, the Spanish authorities are still conducting investigations into the matter as they are working on re-floating the submarine to help determine how much cocaine is stored inside of it.
“They are not sure of the exact amount or weight of the cocaine there so they are estimating the weight based on averaging the weight of that submarine and the capacity it has. However, they have confirmed that it is cocaine inside of the vessel. They said when they are done with their preliminary report they will forward to us and let us know and then we have to do our part such as investigate etc,” the source said.

The source added that even if the submarine’s origin traces back to Guyana, it would have had to be a vessel that was made decades ago.
However, he emphasised that the cocaine, according to various reports, originated from Colombia and not Guyana.
According to a Spanish news agency, El Pais, their law enforcement officials have seized more than 6000 pounds of cocaine from what is believed to be the first-ever “narco-submarine” caught trying to enter European waters.
The 65-foot vessel, which in itself is estimated to cost €2.5 million to build, was tracked down on Sunday off the coast of Pontevedra, according to El Pais.
Investigators are now hoping to crane-lift the sub onto the dock at the Port of Aldán so that they can get inside more easily, an official from the Government’s office in the Province said Tuesday.
The Spanish authorities said that this was the first time a submarine had been found to be used in drug trafficking in that country – and that they had been monitoring the vessel’s movements in recent days in coordination with international Police.
The submarine is believed to have departed from Colombia, according to El Pais. Following its capture, two Ecuadoreans on board were taken into custody but a third person that escaped remains on the lam, the newspaper added.

The submarine sank as Police tried to intercept it Sunday, yet it wasn’t clear if the crew sank it on purpose.
Sources that spoke to El Pais said the vessel was carrying around 6600 pounds of cocaine and the criminal organisations affiliated with it must be “big, since just the submarine itself must have cost around €2.5 million ($2.75 million)”.
The sources also said that they believed the submarine was built in Guyana and has been in operation “for years”.
Galician inlets have long been used by smugglers bringing cocaine by sea from South America into Europe.
An official, who spoke with other Spanish media, on condition of anonymity in keeping with Government rules, said a Police diver had managed to enter the submarine and extracted one package of cocaine.
The official said the submarine was some six metres underwater and that bad weather was complicating how Police might be able to bring it to the surface.
He said Spanish Police, in coordination with other countries’ forces, had been monitoring the submarine’s journey for some days.

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In a sign that transport groups may be getting even more serious about trafficking illicit goods across the Atlantic Ocean, authorities in Guyana have discovered a submarine designed to transport drugs.

On August 14, Guyana’s Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) found a semi-submersible vessel in a tributary of the Waini River near the country’s northwest border with Venezuela, reported the Guyana Times.

CANU director James Singh told the Associated Press the vessel was the first of its kind discovered on the Atlantic side, and said he believed it was part of a large-scale operation that may have been planning to use the semi-submersible to ship drugs to Europe or Africa.  

The vessel — which measured 20 meters long and 4 meters wide — was made out of fiberglass and contained a large diesel engine and navigation equipment, reported Carib News Desk.

Although a camp and workshop were discovered near the semi-submersible, no arrests were made during the operation.

At a press conference, Guyanese President Donald Ramotar stated that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would assist local law enforcement with its investigation. 

InSight Crime Analysis

Guyana is known as a transit point for drugs mostly headed to Europe, often via Africa. The discovery of a submarine there could indicate that this transportation method — once reserved for moving drugs north towards the United States — may now be implemented more often for drugs going to the European market. 

The shift may not surprise crime watchers, but it is not as easy as simply turning the submarines in a different direction. The semi-submersibles are mostly crude replicas that travel near land and at or near the surface of the water so the crew can actually breathe (henceforth the “semi” in the name). The trip across the Atlantic would take far longer and involve more navigational skills on the part of the crew. 

The difficulty the journey presents leaves open the possibility that these subs are only used for transport in this hemisphere. Although details about the drug trafficking organization that built the semi-submersible have yet to emerge, President Ramotar stated that the vessel was likely linked to foreign groups. The dismantling of a major drug smuggling operation in February revealed the presence of a Mexican criminal group in Guyana, as well as ties to Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Guyana

The discovery of the semi-submersible also comes amidst growing concern about drug trafficking and organized crime in Guyana. According to a 2014 US State Department report, Guyana has become an attractive transit country for Colombian cocaine heading to North America, Europe and West Africa because of its porous borders and weak law enforcement. A former Guyanese military commander echoed these concerns in April when he warned Congress the country was “sleepwalking, step by step, into narco-statehood.”