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Colombian Narco-Submarine a 'game changer" for U.S. war on drugs, DEA official says
July 6--South American drug smugglers lost more than 10 tons of cocaine and a 100-foot submarine when they were nabbed last Friday.
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They also may have revved up the United States' war on drugs.
"This is a game changer for us," Jay Bergman, director of the Drug Enforcement Agency's Andean office, told the Los Angeles Times.
Drug dealers have used submarines before to smuggle cocaine, but the one Ecuadoran police seized last week had the capability of diving 65 feet below the surface.
The police said the sub's maximum speed was 8 miles per hour and it could stay underwater for 10 days, long enough for it to reach the Pacific coast of Mexico. The police estimate the submarine cost $4 million, the Times reported.
"A lot of thought, a lot of resources, went into this," Bergman said, adding that the national security community also is concerned the vessels could be used to smuggle terrorists into the U.S.
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