Pictures: First True Cocaine Submarine

Sophisticated Sub

Photograph courtesy Carlos Hernandez, National Geographic Channel

Until recently, the technology for cocaine-smuggling subs has been crude—the vehicles were cramped and could only partially submerge, for instance.

But the recently captured fully submersible drug sub (pictured) displayed a level of sophistication that impressed even the DEA agents.

The vehicle, for example, includes a GPS-tracking satellite dish for navigation, advanced plumbing and electricity, air conditioning, bunks, a periscope with remote cameras, and even a proper toilet.

"As you can see, we don't have to bend down here at all to move around," DEA team commander Misha Piastro says from inside the submarine in the documentary.

"I can stand up without any trouble at all. There's a lot of space down here. This is a whole different animal."

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Published June 24, 2011

Cocaine-Sub Cockpit

Photograph by Steven Hoggard, National Geographic Channel

Two small windows in the cockpit of a previously captured semisubmersible drug sub (pictured) would have allowed crew members to watch for obstacles and law-enforcement officials. The submarine is currently dry-docked at Colombia's Tumaco Coast Guard station.

By contrast, the newly captured, fully submersible cocaine sub can dive completely underwater, leaving no hint of its passage from the surface.

The documentary follows Piastro as well as two DEA field agents, "Tony" and "Rich"—whose true identities are withheld—in one of the most dangerous regions of Colombia as they attempt to find and impound subs.

"A typical [cocaine] sub yard that we find on the west coast is in the mangroves with lean-tos [and] a tarp covering it," Tony says in the documentary. "It's not going to show up on any great satellite pictures. They're designed to be stealth."

The DEA thinks drug smugglers are using the subs to transport millions of dollars' worth of cocaine long distances virtually undetected.

The subs probably "transport the drugs to the water off the Mexican shoreline on the Pacific coast, or to Central America, where they offload in the middle of the night," Hoggard, the director, said.

"Some [cocaine subs] are more than likely making their way to Africa as well on the other side of South America."

(Watch cocaine-submarine videos.)

Published June 24, 2011

Cocaine Sub in Action

Photograph courtesy Ryan Hill, National Geographic Channel

A member of the Colombian Coast Guard drives a previously captured semisubmersible drug sub.

The new documentary also includes an interview with one of the very first cocaine-sub inventors, nicknamed "Dr. Sub," who is hiding out in Mexico.

"When we went to interview the drug-sub inventor, we told him that [the DEA had] just found these fully submersibles, and he said, 'Oh yeah, I knew about those six years ago,'" documentary director Hoggard said. "So without question there are more [subs] under construction."

According to the DEA, engineering documents written in Russian and French have been found at some of the sub-construction sites.

"That suggests there's someone helping them do this, because it's a pretty sophisticated endeavor," Hoggard said.

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Published June 24, 2011

Cocaine Sub Test Run

Photograph by Ryan Hill, National Geographic Channel

Standing aboard a previously seized semisubmersible cocaine sub, a member of the Colombian Coast Guard helps test the vehicle's seagoing capabilities.

The DEA is uncertain how many fully submersible drug subs—like the one recently found in a Colombian mangrove swamp—are currently in operation.

What's more, the agency sees an even greater threat looming on the horizon: remote control cocaine subs.

"Think about how drones function," Hoggard said. "A remote sub could be steered to its destination from an apartment in [the Colombian capital of] Bogotá."

In the documentary, Dr. Sub says he thinks remote control drug submarines already exist.

"We definitely did not have the technology, but we were already working on a solution.  We are talking about 10 to 12 years ago," he said. "Today, I'm certain the technology exists and is being deployed."

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Published June 24, 2011