Guard intercepted a homemade submarine and seized a cocaine haul worth at least $181 million off the coast of Mexico, officials said. The bust last month is the biggest of its kind in Coast Guard history.
The Coast Guard Cutter Stratton intercepted the 40-foot "self-propelled semi-submersible" in the Pacific Ocean 200 miles south of Mexico on July 18 and arrested four alleged smugglers, officials said. The Guard seized 275 bales of cocaine. "Every interception of these semi-submersibles disrupts transnational organized crime networks and helps increase security and stability in the Western Hemisphere," Coast Guard Vice Admiral Charles W. Ray, commander of the Pacific area, said in a statement. The Stratton tried to tow the semi-submersible to shore, but it sank and took 4,000 pounds of cocaine with it, the Coast Guard said. The Guard recovered 12,000 pounds of drugs before the vessel sank.
