First Narco Sub Caught in Peruvian Waters was Headed for Mexico

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: MND / VOA / MaritimeHerald
             
                                       The narco-submarine captured in Peruvian waters.
     The narco submarine captured in Peru with more than one ton  of cocaine was Mexico-bound.

A submarine carrying 2 tons of cocaine was bound for Mexico when it was captured off the coast of Peru on Saturday, according to Peruvian officials. “We’re talking about more than a ton of cocaine, [but] we’re still weighing [it],” Attorney General Jorge Chávez said.

Traveling aboard the submarine were two Colombians, an Ecuadorian and a Mexican. All four were arrested. Chávez said the vessel was loaded in a mangrove forest in Ecuador near the border with Peru.

He did not explain why the ship entered Peru’s territorial waters, to the south of Ecuador, if it aimed to travel north to Mexico.

Painted a greyish color meant to blend in with the surface of the ocean, the partially submersible craft was towed to the port of Paita, about 1,000 kilometers north of Lima.

For the first time in Peru, the Navy found the ship in front of Talara, Piura. The mafias found a new route to the United States. Cargo will be delivered to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Semi-submersible or ‘ narcosubmarine ‘ that carried two tons of cocaine was found with four crew members, for the first time in Peru. After its capture, this Wednesday, December 11,  it arrived at Paita, in Piura, because it was towed by the BAP Río Piura Maritime Patrol (PM-206).

The authority personnel and the suspicious cargo will be delivered to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Crimes of Illicit Drug Trafficking, who will be in charge of carrying out the law investigations.

The ´narcosubmarino´ was operated  178 nautical miles off the Peruvian coast, at the height of Talara on December 7 at approximately 13:30 hours.

Members of the Armed Forces patrolling in the Coast Guard Rio Piura intercepted the ship on that date, but the operation began a day earlier thanks to intelligence work by the maritime authorities.

The four crew members aboard the semi – submersible are a Mexican citizen, one Ecuadorian and two Colombians, who were transporting this probable cocaine alkaloid to the United States.

“This is the first submarine captured in Peru. As of now, we know that the ship’s destination was Mexico,” said Chávez.  “We’re asking the navy for a technical report on its construction,” he said. He said his office was unaware of which criminal organization the men were working for.

Drug cartels began to use submarines to transport their products in 2005, and it is believed that they are built in Colombia, Ecuador and/ or Guyana.

Peru produces over 400 tons of cocaine a year, according to that country’s anti-drug agency, and the majority of it is exported via maritime routes. Peru is one of the world’s largest producers of coca and cocaine, according to the United Nations, although Colombia is the world leader.