US Coast Guard seizes 8 tons of cocaine

The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a homemade submarine and seized a cocaine haul worth at least $181 million off the coast of Mexico, officials said.

This was also the first interdiction of two semi-submersibles in a single patrol at sea where Coast Guardsmen recovered both the narcotics and the vessels.

“Our success intercepting this drug-laden, self-propelled semi-submersible is a testament to the collaboration of our partner agencies and demonstrates the importance of our increased presence in the Western Hemisphere”, said Vice Adm.

The 40 foot narco nautilus, being quality made in a jungle workshop somewhere, began to take on an unhealthy amount of seawater and was lost in deep water with an estimated 4,000 pounds of blow still aboard.

KNTV reports Thursday that Chief Warrant Officer Allyson Conroy says the crew also apprehended four suspected smugglers.

The drugs were found on a semi-submersible vessel, which was nearly completely submerged, with just the cockpit and the exhaust pipe visible above water.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew from Alameda stops a semi-submersible vessle carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine on July 18.

“These individual seizures not only keep drugs off the streets and reduce the destabilizing effects they have on society, but they get our investigatory agencies one step closer to disabling the transnational criminal organizations that threaten the prosperity and security of free nations”, Cmdr.

The Coast Guard based in Alameda has stopped a total of 15 different drug smuggling attempts since April, NBC reported.

Coast Guard Cutter Stratton crewmembers secure cocaine bales from a self-propelled semi-submersible interdicted in worldwide waters off the coast of Central America, July 19, 2015.